BV  3460. U52  U6  1918 
Underwood,  Lillias  H, 
Underwood  of  Korea 


f^r 


/L 


Underwood  of  Korea 


Horace  Grant  Underwood,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Underwood  of  Korea 

BEING 

An  intimate  record  of  the  Life  and  Work  of 

the  Rev.  H.  G.  Underwood,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

for  thirty-one  years  a  Missionary  of 

the  Presbyterian  Board  in  Korea 


BY  HIS  WIFE 

LILLIAS  H.  UNDERWOOD,  M.D. 


ILLUSTRATED 


New  York 


Chicago 


Toronto 


Fleming    H.    Revell    Company 


London 


AND 


Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      75     Princes    Street 


Tms  STORY  OF  Dr.  Underwood's  life 

IS   DEDICATED  TO  HIS  BELOVED  BROTHER 

WHO  UNFAILINGLY  SUCCORED  AND  SYM- 
PATHIZED, AND  WAS  ONE  WITH  HIM  IN 
THE   EFFORT   TO   ADVANCE  THE   CAUSE  OF 

Christ  in  Korea. 


PREFACE 

THIS  book,  it  must  be  said  Iti  advance,  is  not  a 
history  of  the  missionary  work  in  Korea,  not 
even  a  complete  and  exhaustive  history  of  the 
missionary  work  of  one  man.  It  is  simply  the  life  of 
Dr.  Underwood,  not  by  any  means  complete,  aiming  to 
show  in  entirety,  not  so  much  his  varied  efforts  and 
what  God  was  able  to  do  through  him,  but  to  sketch  as 
lifelike  a  picture  as  possible  of  the  man  himself,  his 
character,  his  victory  over  difficulties,  his  way  of  meeting 
discouragements  and  opposition,  his  consecration,  faith, 
love,  perseverance,  and  indomitability.  One  might  write 
a  life  of  Dr.  Underwood  which  should  be  a  standard 
reference  of  missionary  work  in  Korea  covering  those 
thirty-one  years  during  which  all  the  great  beginnings 
took  place,  and  the  foundations  were  laid,  but  it  would 
demand  at  least  two  large  volumes.  Or  one  might  write 
a  volume  that  would  relate  to  the  political  and  social 
upheavals  and  changes  which  have  taken  place  there 
during  his  time,  but  that,  too,  must  needs  be  a  large  book 
and  could  scarcely  be  written  by  a  resident  of  the 
country. 

The  aim  of  the  writer  has  been  to  present  a  volume, 
which,  without  wearying  the  ordinary  reader  by  its  size 
and  detail,  shall  show  the  main  lines  of  a  unique  char- 
acter, a  little  of  the  methods  of  his  work  and  their  re- 
sults, which  have  proved  so  fruitful,  not  only  in  Korea 

7 


8  Preface 

but  in  Africa  and  some  parts  of  India  and,  in  fact, 
wherever  they  have  been  tried.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
book  may  be  somewhat  of  an  inspiration,  not  only  to 
missionaries  and  evangelistic  workers  but  to  Christians 
everywhere,  and  that  it  may  be  a  help  in  carrying  on 
Christian  work  both  in  the  home  lands  and  on  the  mis- 
sion fields. 

As  the  writer  has  proceeded  with  this  delineation  it 
has  seemed  to  grow  more  and  more  clear  that  the  one 
salient  feature,  the  one  dominant  characteristic  of  the 
whole  life,  was  love;  a  great  boundless  overwhelming 
love  for  God  and  man  which  knew  no  narrow  limits  of 
sect,  or  race,  or  place,  or  time.  This  it  was  that  drew 
so  many  hearts  to  him  in  loving  personal  devotion ;  it  was 
such  a  love  which  carried  him  along,  like  "a  torch  of  fire," 
as  he  was  called,  through  his  whole  career.  With  faith 
and  hope  he  was  wonderfully  gifted,  but  the  love  that 
was  the  essence  of  his  being  was  the  greatest  gift  of  all. 
If,  in  some  small  degree,  the  study  of  this  character  and 
of  his  missionary  experiences  shall  be  of  help  to  the 
readers,  the  aim  of  the  writer  will  be  attained. 

Heartiest  thanks  are  due  to  the  many  friends  who 
assisted  in  gathering  data:  the  secretaries  and  librarians 
of  our  board ;  Dr.  Brown  of  New  York  University ; 
Dr.  Avison,  who  wrote  the  incident  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
excitement ;  Mr.  H.  H.  Underwood,  who  wrote  the  para- 
graphs on  the  newspaper,  the  beginning  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  and  the  incident  of  the  trip  overland  in  the  rainy 
season;  Mr.  Bonwick,  who  wrote  most  of  the  notes  on 
the  evangelistic  campaign;  Mrs.  Mott,  Dr.  White,  Dr. 
H.  N.  Allen,  Mr.  H.  B.  Hulbert,  Dr.  Easton,  Dr.  Gilles- 
pie, the  editor  of  the  Korean  Field;  Mrs.  Larkin,  Mrs. 


Preface  9 

Stephens,  Mr.  J.  T.  Underwood,  and  others  who  helped 
out  the  writer's  memory  on  one  point  or  another.  It 
may  be  that  some  names  have  been  omitted  of  the  many 
that  so  wilHngly  assisted.  If  so,  I  beg  their  forgiveness, 
for  we  are  deeply  indebted  to  all  the  friends  of  that  dear 
soul  whose  beautiful   life  I  have   so  poorly  portrayed. 

L.  H.  U. 
Outside  the  South  Gate,  Seoul,  Korea. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


rAGB 


I.  Ancestry  and  Training       .       .       .       .15 
II.  Missionary  Apprenticeship.       .       .       .39 

III.  Momentous  Beginnings        .       .       .       .61 

IV.  A  Memorable  Journey        ....     80 
V.  Grammarian  and  Lexicographer      .       .     94 

VI.  A  Busy  Vacation 109 

VII.  Back  Home  in  Korea 120 

VIII.  Fateful  Days  in  Korea      .       .       .       .136 

IX.  An  Itinerant  Ministry        .       !~      .       .155 

X.  Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador      .   181 

XI.  The  Broadening  River        .       .       .       .  202 

XII.  Gloom  and  Gleam 215 

XIII.  The  Japanese  Protectorate      .       .       .229 

XIV.  FOREGLEAMS   OF   UnION 237 

XV.  A  Strenuous  Country  Trip       .       .       .242 

XVI.  Rest  in  Europe 257 

XVII.  The  Korean  Propaganda  in  America     .  265 
XVIII.  Division  of  Territory         .       .       .       .274 

XIX.  A  Serious  Injury 284 

XX.  Showers  of  Blessing 293 

XXI.  American  Delegations         ....  299 
XXII.  1914-1915 308 

XXIII.  ''Home  after  Wandering"  ....  326 

11 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


Horace  Grant  Underwood,  D.D.,  LL.D Frontispiece 

Alexander  Waugh,    D.D 24 

Mr.  John    Underwood 24 

Horace  Underwood  at  Fifteen 24 

Horace  Underwood  at  Twenty-four 24 

Horace  Underwood  in  1884 54 

Mr.  No,  The  First  Baptized  Christian  in  Korea 54 

Mr.  Soh  Sang  Yun,  The  First  Native  Pastor 54 

Members  of  a  Korean  Christian  Family 90 

South  Gate,  Seoul  (1890). .  . .'. 100 

The  First  Church  Built  by  Native  Christians 160 

A  Group  of  Christians  in  Sorai 160 

Board  of  Bible  Translators 202 

Severance  Hospital  and  Surroundings 212 

View  of  Seoul,  Showing  Dr.  Underwood's  Home 226 

Dr.  Underwood  in  Switzerland  in  1907 260 

The  John  D.  Wells  School  in  Seoul 280 

Dr.  John  R.  Mott  and  Party 300 

Dr.  Underwood  Addressing  the  Great  Sunday-School 

Celebration 306 

Mr.  Yi  Sang  Chai 310 

Dr.  Underwood  among  the  Children  in  His  Garden..  324 
Government  Permits  for  the  Union  Christian  College 

in  Seoul 330 

13 


"Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are 
honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things 
are  of  good  report,  if  there  be  any  virtue  and  if  there  be 
any  praise,  think  on  these  things." 


CHAPTER  I 
ANCESTRY  AND  TRAINING 

IN  the  second  volume  of  the  Book  of  the  Underwood 
Families  in  America  is  found  on  page  625  the  fol- 
lowing: "John  Underwood  of  New  Durham,  N.  J., 
son  of  Thomas  of  London,  England,  born  in  London, 
England,  in  1829,  married  in  1855,  Elisabeth  Grant 
Maire."  Six  children  were  born  to  this  couple,  of  whom 
Horace  Grant,  born  in  London,  July  19,  1859,  was  the 
fourth. 

Thomas  Underwood,  the  grandfather  of  Horace,  was 
with  his  brother  George  a  publisher  of  medical  and 
other  books,  having  his  place  of  business  in  Fleet  Street, 
London.  They  were  both  earnest  Christian  men,  of 
English  birth.  The  wife  of  Thomas  was  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Alexander  Waugh,  of  Scotland,  whose  name  even 
now  is  well  known  among  Presbyterians  in  both  England 
and  Scotland.  He  was  a  man  of  much  note  and  great 
influence,  a  powerful  preacher  and  deeply  interested  in 
foreign  missions.  His  character,  his  gifts  and  his  whole 
attitude  of  mind  are  so  strikingly  like  those  of  his  great- 
grandson  Horace  Underwood,  that  it  is  worth  while  to 
note  a  few  facts  concerning  him  as  set  down  in  his 
biography. 

Born  in  1754,  he  had  graduated  from  the  University  o£ 
Edinburgh  in  1770  and  from  the  University  of  Aberdeen 
in  1777.    He  was  licensed  to  preach  at  twenty-five,  and 

15 


16  Underwood  of  Korea 

had  competing  calls  from  London  and  Edinburgh,  and 
became  pastor  of  the  Wells  Street  congregation,  London. 
He  was  actively  interested  in  a  union  of  Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Independents  and  Methodists 
which  was  formed  for  publishing  a  religious  periodical 
for  the  spread  of  scripture  truths.  An  appeal  for  mis- 
sions had  been  made  in  1794  through  this  paper,  and  in 
July  of  1795  a  meeting  of  some  twenty  members  was 
held  and  a  missionary  society  was  formed.  The  com- 
mittee who  were  to  make  plans  for  this  society  were 
twelve  leading  divines,  including  Dr.  Waugh.  The  latter 
was  individually  the  framer  of  the  "fundamental  princi- 
ple" of  the  Society.  This  has  been  preserved  in  his  own 
handwriting  as  follows:  "As  the  union  of  God's  people 
of  various  denominations  in  carrying  on  this  great  work 
fs  a  most  desirable  object,  so  to  prevent,  if  possible,  any 
cause  of  future  dissension  it  is  declared  to  be  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  this  missionary  society  that  our 
design  is  not  to  send  Presbyterian,  Independent,  Episco- 
palian or  any  other  form  of  church  order  and  govern- 
ment, about  which  there  may  be  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  serious  persons,  but  the  Glorious  Gospel  of  the 
Blessed  God  to  the  heathen,  and  it  shall  be  left  to  the 
minds  of  the  persons  whom  God  shall  call  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  His  Son  from  among  them  to  assume  for  them- 
selves such  form  of  church  government  as  to  them 
shall  appear  most  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God."  This 
in  1795!  Are  we  progressing?  No  wonder  that  the 
great-grandson's  ideal  was  unity! 

To  quote  further  from  Dr.  Waugh's  biography:  "On 
all  occasions  for  thirty-three  years,  Dr.  Waugh  was  uni- 
formly the   peace-maker   in   the  society.     For  twenty- 


Ancestry  and  Training  17 

eight  years  he  sat  by  the  unanimous  appointment  of  his 
brethren  as  chairman  of  the  examining  committee  of 
this  London  Missionary  Society.  He  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  from  its 
beginning,  in  which  he  took  part  in  1804.  For  thirty- 
seven  years  he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  Scottish 
Hospital,  the  Hibernian  Society,  the  Irish  Evangelical, 
the  Religious  Tract  and  Anti-Slavery  Societies." 

li  there  is  anything  in  the  theory  of  heredity,  we  have 
here  in  this  great  resemblance  in  the  character  and  deeds 
of  this  man  and  those  of  his  great-grandson  a  marked 
example.  The  broad-mindedness,  the  wide-reaching 
philanthropy,  the  love  of  unity,  the  charity,  the  qualities 
of  leadership  and  organization,  the  intellectual  gifts,  all 
so  similar,  make  one  feel  a  bit  creepy  and  we  wonder 
whether  Alexander  wasn't  pretty  close  to  Horace,  or  at 
least  whether  the  mantle  of  the  one  had  not  fallen  upon 
the  other. 

John  Underwood,  the  grandson  of  Dr.  Waugh,  and 
Horace's  father,  the  manufacturing  chemist,  was  both  a 
scientist  and  inventor  of  rare  intellectual  gifts.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  veritable  genius,  and  one  is  tempted 
to  turn  aside  to  sketch  that  life  so  full  of  interest,  ac- 
complished benefits,  sore  trial,  deep  Christian  experi- 
ences and  victories  of  faith.  His  ardent,  earnest  Chris- 
tianity evidenced  in  many  evangelistic  labors  as  well 
as  in  beautiful  daily  life,  his  constant  looking  for  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  his  inventions  which  brought  him 
a  medal  and  words  of  high  commendation  from  the 
Prince  Consort  himself  in  behalf  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  Arts,  were  often  recalled  by  his  son  with  pardonable 
pride.     He  loved  to  tell  how  his  father  in  his  student 


18  Underwood  of  Korea 

days  had  an  anonymous  newspaper  discussion  with  the 
famous  Dr.  Liebig  of  Germany  on  the  potato  disease, 
and  how  when  he,  John,  had  been  admitted  to  be  the 
victor  and  names  were  called  for,  the  general  surprise 
to  find  that  John  Underwood,  aged  twenty,  student  at 
Colchester,  had  been  the  successful  contestant,  only 
equalled  his  own  astonishment  to  find  that  his  opponent 
was  the  great  scientist  whom  he  would  not  have  pre- 
sumed to  oppose  had  he  known  his  identity. 

The  energy,  the  versatility,  the  sunny,  kindly,  jovial 
nature,  the  wonderful  indomitability  and  the  scientific 
bias  which,  chanced  they  to  be  making  inks,  dictionaries  or 
typewriters,  founding  missionary  societies  or  schools  and 
colleges,  marked  the  character  of  Dr.  Waugh  and  his 
grandsons  and  great-grandsons  are  extremely  interesting 
to  note. 

Not  only  was  Horace's  father  a  remarkable  instance 
of  this  but  his  brother  John  and  his  cousin  Dr.  Arthur 
Underwood  were  cast  in  much  the  same  mold,  though 
each  had  a  different  calling.  The  story  of  how  John 
perfected  his  inks,  typewriter  supplies  and  typewriters, 
how  he  fought  and  outwitted  the  trusts,  organized  his 
companies,  built  tremendous  factories,  extended  his  sales 
to  the  limits  of  the  known  world,  is  too  long  to  be  told 
here,  but  it  meant  brains,  courage,  indefatigabilily, 
vision,  concentration  and  scientific  methods.  The  same 
broad,  kindly,  philanthropic  spirit  seen  in  Dr.  Waugh, 
led  his  grandson  generously  to  support  the  cause  of 
Christ  at  home  and  abroad. 

To  return  to  Horace's  father,  John  Underwood:  his 
devout  Christian  character  made  a  deep  impression  on 
all  his  children.    He  was  a  busy  man,  but  he  spent  most 


Ancestry  and  Training  19 

of  his  Sunday  afternoons  with  them  when  his  mission 
school  was  done,  and  Horace  always  recalled  those  hours 
with  great  pleasure.  Sunday  was  not  a  tiresome  day 
for  them ;  at  church  there  were  stools  of  varied  height 
to  suit  short  pendent  legs,  and  everything  was  done  to 
make  church-going  comfortable  as  well  as  interesting; 
of  course  the  text  and  something  about  the  sermon  were 
required  of  the  older  ones  when  they  returned  home. 
Especially  was  Horace  filled  with  his  father's  eager  hope 
and  longing  for  the  return  of  the  Lord.  It  was  his 
constant  thought  and  he  never  ceased  to  look  and  pray 
for  that  Glorious  Appearing  in  his  own  time.  This 
hope  he  passed  on  to  the  Koreans  from  the  first  days 
when  he  could  teach  them  at  all,  and  now  probably  the 
whole  Korean  church  is  one  in  looking  and  waiting  for 
that  day. 

The  wife  and  mother  of  this  Underwood  family  must 
have  been  an  extremely  attractive  personality.  All  the 
relatives  have  spoken  of  her  in  terms  of  unstinted  praise 
and  have  repeatedly  said  that  no  one  ever  heard  her 
raise  her  voice  in  anger  or  speak  a  single  hasty  or 
unkind  word.  But  poor  John  Underwood  was  marked 
for  trouble,  and  lost  in  one  year,  1865,  his  sweet  wife 
and  her  baby,  and  his  beloved  old  mother.  Not  long 
after,  financial  difficulties  due  largely  to  the  dishonesty 
of  a  partner,  fell  upon  him,  and  he  at  length  began  to 
think  it  would  be  better  to  try  his  fortunes  in  a  new 
country.  A  few  years  after  his  wife's  death,  left  with 
five  little  children  on  his  hands,  he  had  married  again, 
and  at  the  age  of  ten,  Horace,  with  a  brother  Fred,  had 
been  sent  to  a  boys'  boarding  school  in  Boulogne  Sur 
Mer,  France. 


20  Underwood  of  Korea 

It  was  a  Roman  Catholic  school  carried  on  by  a  Pro- 
fessor Die,  whom  the  boys  found  to  be  good,  wise  and 
kind  and  who  won  their  lasting  affection  and  respect. 
No  attempt  at  proselyting  was  made;  the  boys  attended 
their  own  English  church  and  kept  their  Protestant  faith 
unshaken,  but  learned  too  a  certain  tolerance  and  good 
feeling  toward  Christians  of  that  other  church. 

Many  were  the  reminiscences  related  by  Horace  of 
these  days  at  the  seaside  school,  but  one  incident,  a  bed- 
time experience  in  the  big  dormitory  full  of  French  and 
English  boys,  is  worth  recounting,  as  it  shows  the  caliber 
of  these  two  boys  as  well  as  the  sort  of  training  they 
had  had.  Our  little  Underwoods,  entering  this  cage 
of  wild  animals,  entire  strangers,  calmly  proceeded,  after 
undressing,  to  kneel  down  as  usual  and  say  their  prayers ; 
upon  the  first  glimpse  of  which  unheard-of  performance, 
loud  yells  of  derision,  cat  calls  and  other  persuasive 
signs  of  disapproval  were  in  evidence.  These,  having 
no  effect,  were  followed  by  tornados  of  pillows,  boots, 
hair  brushes,  etc.,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  boys 
finished  their  prayers  and  calmly  climbed  into  bed.  For 
a  few  nights  this  scene  was  repeated  but  it  finally  dawned 
on  the  consciousness  of  the  other  English  boys  that, 
religion  entirely  aside,  they  ought  to  stand  by  their  own 
nationals.  At  any  rate,  all  of  them  began  to  say  their 
prayers,  probably  more  as  patriotic  Englishmen  than  as 
good  Christians.  Henceforth  shoes  and  other  projectiles 
were  a  litde  less  freely  bestowed  where  so  many  gallant 
lads  might  be  counted  on  to  defend  their  faith  with 
their  fists  next  morning.  So,  little  by  little,  it  became 
quiet  at  prayer  time,  and  one  by  one  the  French  boy.^., 
too,  began  to  pray,  so  that  after  a  while  all  the  bo^'s 


Ancestry  and  Training  21 

in  their  dormitory  said  prayers  at  bed  time,  all  through 
the  persistence  of  two  unafraid,  determined  little  fellows. 
The  tie  of  affection  between  the  Underwood  children 
was  always  very  strong  from  the  earliest  recollection 
of  them  all.  Fred,  who  was  reported  to  be  more  of  a 
saint  than  the  others,  seemed  to  v/ield  a  great  influence 
over  them.  Horace  often  told  how  this  brother  asked 
him  to  learn  the  119th  psalm  as  a  favor,  and  how  he, 
Horace,  rebelling  at  the  magnitude  of  the  task,  most 
positively  and  emphatically  refused.  "Think  how  you 
would  feel  if  I  should  die  and  you  had  refused  my 
last  request,"  was  the  gentle  but  sad  answer.  Now 
Fred  had  weak  lungs  and  took  cod  liver  oil,  so  Horace's 
hard  heart  melted,  as  it  always  did  when  there  was  a 
plea  for  pity,  and  he  forthwith  tackled  and  learned  the 
mighty  psalm.  But  it  was  not  strange  for  these  children 
to  learn  Scripture.  All  three  of  the  boys  at  least  were 
obliged  to  mem.orize  the  whole  book  of  Hebrews  and 
other  portions  of  the  Bible  so  that  they  could  go  back- 
ward and  forward  and  recite  any  verse  or  chapter  called 
for  by  their  father.  A  relative  who  saw  much  of  them 
at  the  time,  writes :  "They  were  all  lovely  little  children  ; 
we  were  very  proud  of  them."  Little  Horace  was  very 
polite;  would  take  off  his  hat  and  bow  very  low  even 
when  entering  a  shop,  and  then  would  frequently  go  out 
of  the  place  forgetting  the  hat  altogether.  Horace's 
absent-minded  ways  were  a  joke  in  the  family.  He 
would  seem  to  be  in  a  brown  study  with,  no  doubt, 
great  dreams  in  his  child's  brain.  At  one  time  when 
fhe  family  were  in  straitened  circumstances  and  money 
was  not  too  plentiful,  Horace  was  given  a  five-dollar  bill 
to  make  some  purchases  for  the  household  at  the  grocery. 


22  Underwood  of  Korea 

Cheerfully  he  started  forth  but  scarcely  had  he  reached 
the  shop  when,  to  his  horror,  he  discovered  that  he  had 
unconsciously  bitten  off  little  by  little  one  scrap  after 
another  of  the  precious  bill  like  a  piece  of  common  paper, 
until  only  a  small  and  useless  fragment  remained.  This 
meant  almost  a  tragedy  at  that  time,  but  the  very  make- 
up of  the  boy's  mind  which  caused  it,  made  him  capable 
in  later  days,  of  very  remarkable  concentration  of  thought 
upon  any  business  which  called  for  his  attention. 

On  Sundays,  when  the  father  for  any  reason  could  not 
read  with  and  amuse  them,  they  often  played  church 
and  on  these  occasions  Horace  was  always  by  common 
consent,  the  preacher.  Mounted  on  a  stool  or  chair,  he 
would  lead  the  service  in  the  regular  way,  and  preach 
the  sermon  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  both  his  audi- 
ence and  himself.  As  Fred  had  the  reputation  of  being 
the  saintliest  and  John  was  the  oldest  and  most  domineer- 
ing, either  one  of  them  would  have  been  more  likely 
to  take  the  leading  part  of  preaching,  had  it  not  been 
that  Horace  was  already  beginning  to  develop  some  of 
those  gifts  which  carried  audiences  away,  when  he  stood 
in  real  pulpits  in  later  years,  or  told  Korea's  story  so 
winningly. 

But,  as  I  have  said,  financial  misfortune  dogged  their 
poor  father  until,  in  1872,  he  decided  to  go  to  America 
and  start  anew.  The  boys  had  been  in  France  only  two 
years  when  they  were  sent  for  to  follow  him  to  the  new 
country.  Horace  was  then  twelve,  almost  thirteen,  and 
Fred  fourteen  years  of  age.  One  is  greatly  tempted 
to  linger  over  these  early  years  in  America:  the  brave 
struggle  under  difficult  circumstances  in  a  new  country; 
the  slow  but  sure  coming  of  success,  earned  by  vigil- 


Ancestry  and  Training  23 

ance,  energy,  determination,  brains  and  courage.  Even 
in  their  most  straitened  circumstances  they  formed  a 
circle  of  friends  among  the  best  people ;  associated  them- 
selves with  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church;  took  part  in 
all  the  church  work  and  became  valued  members  of  the ' 
little  community.  It  is  recorded  in  the  book  of  Grove 
Church,  that  Mr.  John  Underwood  the  father,  and  his 
children  John  T.,  Frederick  Wills,  Horace  Grant,  and 
Helen  Evelyn,  joined  that  church  on  profession  of  faith 
December  5th,  1874.  No  doubt  the  difficulty  and  delay  in 
getting  letters  from  England  at  that  time  led  their  father 
to  join  as  by  profession,  as  he  was  a  member  of  the 
church  for  many  years  in  England. 

While  in  New  Durham,  the  boys  helped  in  the  garden, 
in  the  house  and  in  the  ink  factory  with  willing  hands, 
but  somehow  the  father  seemed  to  think  that  Horace 
must  not  go  into  business.  It  may  have  been  because 
even  as  a  child  he  had  expressed  a  wish  to  become  a 
minister  and  a  missionary.  However  that  may  be,  he 
was  sent  to  Hasbrooke  Seminary  for  boys  in  Jersey 
City  and  later  on,  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Mabon,  then  of  Grove  Church,  to  be  tutored  in 
preparation  for  college.  He  took  to  his  books  with  the 
avidity  of  a  real  scholar  and  in  six  months  had  learned 
all  the  Greek  necessary  to  admit  him  to  college.  During 
these  early  years  in  America,  the  boys  were  engaged 
in  much  evangelistic  work.  Besides  three  or  four  regu- 
lar services  of  church  and  Sunday  school,  they  attended 
a  mission  school  and  engaged  in  tract  distribution  in 
some  of  the  worst  localities  of  Union  Hill.  They  met 
active  opposition  in  one  of  the  saloons  and  were  roughly 
ordered  to  keep  away.     They  bowed  politely  and  calmly 


24  Underwood  of  Korea 

went  again  the  following  week  quite  undisturbed  by 
bluster  and  profanity.  They  were  threatened  with  the 
police  but  boys  who  could  pray  against  a  rabid  dormi- 
tory, at  ten  years  of  age,  were  not  deterred  at  sixteen 
and  seventeen  by  one  or  two  mere  saloon  keepers.  So, 
like  the  French  schoolboys,  the  saloon  men  eventually 
capitulated  with  what  grace  they  might  and  even  grew 
to  be  friendly  with  the  indomitable  and  polite  young 
evangelists. 

Horace  began  his  course  of  study  at  New  York  Uni- 
versity in  1877,  walking  back  and  forth  from  New 
Durham  to  the  college  in  New  York,  about  seven  miles, 
each  day,  taking  the  lightest  of  so-called  luncheons,  study 
ing  until  twelve  at  night,  and  rising  at  five  o'clock,  with 
the  same  energy  that  characterized  his  whole  life.  He 
seemed  absolutely  incapable  of  sparing  himself  in  any 
way,  under  any  conditions.  While  at  the  University,  he 
joined  the  Delta  Upsilon,  a  non-secret  society,  and  became 
an  ardent  and  enthusiastic  member.  It  was  in  the  early 
days  of  the  fraternity  in  that  college,  and  the  branch 
in  New  York  University  was  very  weak  and  in  rather 
a  critical  condition,  but  with  foresight,  energy,  diplo- 
macy and  skill,  they  managed,  against  a  determined 
fight  of  other  societies,  to  claim  and  initiate,  apparently 
at  the  risk  of  life  and  limb,  enough  first-rate  men  of 
an  incoming  class  to  insure  the  future  life  of  their 
fraternity. 

Often  have  I  heard  him  tell  with  infinite  zest  of 
that  early  contest.  He  had  a  great  love  for  and  pride 
in  both  his  university  and  fraternity  and  later  on,  when 
a  missionary  and  a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  one  dark  night, 
in  walking  down  Broadway  with  another  D.  U.  man  they 


The  Rev.  Alexander  Waugh,  D.D.  Mr.  John  Underwood,  Horace's  Father 


Horace  Underwood  at  Fifteen  Horace  Underwood  at  Twenty-four 


Ancestry  and  Training  25 

found  themselves  suddenly  in  a  crowd  from  another  col- 
lege giving  their  fraternity  yell  with  all  the  abandon  of 
college  boys  out  for  a  lark.  Waiting  an  instant  until 
they  had  paused  for  breath,  our  missionary  divine  and 
his  brother  raised  stentorian  voices  and  gave  their  own 
yells  until  the  welkin  rang,  and  before  the  astonished 
crowd  could  capture  and  punish,  made  good  their  escape 
in  the  dark,  bubbling  with  glee.  Horace  entered  college 
in  1877  and  two  years  later  his  father  began  to  fail. 
A  malignant  growth  in  the  throat  necessitated  repeated, 
terribly  painful  treatments  which  he  bore  with  the  quiet 
courage  of  a  Christian  hero,  but  the  cruel  disease  con- 
tinued to  progress  until,  on  June  7th,  1881,  this  rare 
and  good  man  passed  away.  He  was  a  Christian  of 
wonderful  faith  and  spirituality.  We  hear  of  his  en- 
gagement in  much  evangelistic  work.  A  book  of  hymns 
constantly  used  by  him  during  those  last  years  is  marked 
in  a  way  which  clearly  shows  how  bright  was  his  hope, 
and  how  deep  and  far  reaching  his  Christian  experience. 
One  of  his  closest  and  most  intimate  friends  was  Dr. 
Muller,  the  founder  of  the  great  orphanage  in  Bristol, 
carried  on  only  by  faith  and  prayer.  John  Underwood 
lived  a  rich,  full  life.  In  his  business  he  had  made  a 
number  of  useful  inventions,  one  of  which  was  a  safety 
check  paper  on  which  writing  could  not  possibly  be 
altered;  another,  an  ink  which  would  make  seventy-five 
copies.  Also,  he  invented  the  first  copiable  printing  ink. 
He  improved  on  the  typewriter  ribbons  so  that  no  others 
since  made  have  been  able  to  compare  with  them.  He 
carried  his  experiments  in  making  diamonds  far  enough 
to  produce  tiny  specimens,  the  manufacture  of  which, 
however,  was  far  too  costly  for  profit,  and  so,  not  filling 


26  Underwoo^.of  Korea 

the  family  bread  basket  half  so  well  as  ink,  nor  proving 
half  so  nourishing,  they  were  dropped  as  they  deserved 
to  be.  Not  his  least  service  was  in  leaving  sons  bred  and 
trained  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  with 
all  their  father's  zeal,  faith  and  devotion ;  a  zeal  often 
expressed  in  his  and  their  favorite  motto:  "Laughs  at 
impossibilities  and  says  it  shall  be  done." 

Although  his  stay  in  America  had  been  only  nine  years, 
John  Underwood  had  made  his  mark,  made  easier  the 
world's  work,  and  left  that  undying  influence  for  good 
which  follows  a  righteous  man  after  his  body  has  gone 
to  dust. 

Horace  graduated  with  high  standing  from  New  York 
University  in  1881,  taking  the  degree  of  A.B.,  and  in  the 
fall  of  that  year  entered  the  Dutch  Reformed  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  New  Brunswick.  Dr.  Mabon,  his 
much  beloved  pastor,  at  the  same  time  assumed  the  chair 
of  Systematic  Theology  in  the  institution.  One  who 
observed  Horace  as  he  entered  the  seminary,  writes: 
'T  shall  never  forget  the  first  time  I  saw  him.  He  was 
walking  up  the  path  toward  the  seminary  in  New 
Brunswick,  at  the  beginning  of  his  student  days  and  I 
asked  somebody  who  he  was.  The  earnestness  and  con- 
centration of  purpose  in  his  face  impressed  me  very 
strongly  even  at  that  time."  Another  writes :  "He  made 
the  impression  of  consecration  and  the  possession  of 
spirituality  and  intellectual  power  even  then."  Perhaps 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  attempt  a  sketch  of  the  young 
fellow  as  he  appeared  at  that  time.  He  was  about  five 
feet,  eight  or  nine  inches  in  height ;  broad  shouldered, 
with  a  rather  uncommonly  large  double-crowned  head 
thatched  with  thick  dark  chestnut  curly  hair,  growing 


Ancestry  and  Training  27 

low  on  the  forehead.  His  features  were  all  finely 
chiseled;  delicate,  refined  and  yet  strong.  The  nose  was 
slightly  aquiline  and  somewhat  large  but  not  noticeably 
so;  the  mouth  sweet  in  expression  without  being  ef- 
feminate; the  chin  firm  and  strong.  The  eyes  were 
clear  and  dark  brown  and  the  whole  expression  told  of 
sincerity,  earnestness  of  purpose,  enthusiasm  and  kindli- 
ness. But  there  was  more:  an  indescribable  something 
about  the  pure,  calm  brow  and  those  clear  eyes ;  a  gentle- 
ness and  other-worldUness,  probably  conferred  by  that 
saintly  mother  who  had  so  long  ago  gone  to  rest. 

The  three  years  spent  in  New  Brunswick  were  crowded 
to  overflowing,  pressed  down,  shaken  together  and  run- 
ning over  with  every  form  of  evangelistic  work  which 
an  active  and  intense  young  student  could  manage  to 
crowd  in  between  seminary  duties.  An  old  classmate 
writes:  'T  used  to  say  you  could  see  Horace  with  his 
coat-tails  flying  around  some  New  Brunswick  street  on 
some  religious  work  almost  any  day  in  the  week,  during 
his  three  years'  stay  in  the  seminary."  This  was  much 
to  the  distaste  of  the  faculty,  who  believed  it  could  not 
but  be  to  the  disadvantage  of  his  studies,  but  they  tried 
in  vain  to  interfere.  They  had  come  in  contact  with  a 
personality  not  easily  controlled.  "Woe  is  me  if  I 
preach  not  the  gospel,"  was  his  feeling,  and  as  all  he  did 
seemed  not  to  prevent  his  high  standing  in  his  classes, 
or  interfere  with  a  wonderful  constitution  which  stood 
like  iron  the  strain  of  only  five  hours'  sleep,  and  nineteen 
of  study  and  work,  they  really  found  little  to  say  and 
nothing  to  do.  A  Doctor  Easton,  the  pastor  of  the 
largest  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  New  Brunswick  at 
that  time,  was  a  man  after  our  student's  own  heart.    On 


28  Underwood  of  Korea 

fire  with  a  passion  for  souls,  he  soon  had  the  staid  and 
at  one  time  rather  cold,  old  church  at  white  heat 
crowded  to  overflowing  with  continual  revivals,  won- 
derful conversions,  early  and  late  prayer  meetings,  after- 
meetings  and  an  awakened  interest  in  all  the  neigh- 
boring churches.  In  all  this,  Horace  took  the  part 
which  might  have  been  expected  of  an  assistant  pastor. 
One  who  knew  him  well  reports  that  he  would  attend 
seven  or  eight  different  services  on  Sunday  during  that 
period. 

The  Salvation  Army  also  set  up  a  station  in  New 
Brunswick  for  the  first  time  while  he  was  in  the  semin- 
ary. In  those  days  they  were  looked  u])on  with  more 
or  less  disapproval  if  not  positive  distrust  by  most  con- 
servative church  people,  among  whom  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed are  the  first.  So  the  feelings  of  the  faculty  and 
family  may  be  better  imagined  than  described  when  he 
threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  this  work,  marched 
and  spoke  in  their  street  and  barrack  meetings,  and  so 
identified  himself  with  them  that  his  sisters  became 
greatly  alarmed  lest  he  should  join  the  army  out  and 
out.  He  always  loved  them,  and  often  in  later  years, 
when  passing  a  little  group  of  them  at  a  street  corner, 
he  and  I  would  stop  and  join  in  their  singing  and  prayers 
with  zest  and  give  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 
On  the  foreign  field  he  was  one  of  the  warmest  sup- 
porters and  friends  of  the  Salvationists  there.  The 
truth  was  that  whenever  he  saw  people  working  for 
Christ  he  saw  brothers  who  had  a  claim  upon  his  great 
sympathy  and  service.  He  never  had  any  strong  sec- 
tarian, class,  or  race  bias.  More  than  any  one  else  I 
have  ever  seen  he  seemed  to   feel  a  real  brotherhood 


Ancestry  and  Training  29 

with  people  of  all  races,  nationalities,  classes,  ages,  and 
sects.  The  whole  current  of  his  being  set  toward  unity. 
He  involuntarily  tended  to  draw  into  close,  helpful,  loving 
fellowship  with  all  living  souls.  No  one  was  too  low  or 
too  high,  too  broad  or  too  narrow ;  too  white  or  too  black 
for  his  sympathy,  interest  and  love. 

He  belonged  to  that  fraternity  of  which  Paul  writes : 
''There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek ;  there  is  neither  bond 
nor  free;  there  is  neither  male  nor  female,  for  ye  are 
all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  This  marked  trait  of  character 
Vv^as  often  illustrated  in  his  life  in  the  East,  in  a  foreign 
community  made  up  of  Europeanr  and  Americans  of 
ail  classes  of  society,  all  shades  of  religious  beliefs, 
from  the  titled  diplomat  to  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of 
wandering  ne'er  do  wells ;  from  the  high  Anglican  church 
missionary  to  the  atheist ;  and  all  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
non-Christian  Oriental  races  of  China,  Japan  and  Korea. 
He  was  the  friend  and  brother  of  everybody,  from  the 
king  to  the  coolie,  and  sooner  or  later  found  an  oppor- 
tunity to  succor,  sympathize  with,  or  show  his  good- 
will to  one  and  all,  realizing  the  often  over-looked  truth 
that  everybody  in  this  sad  world  needs  a  friend.  But 
especially  did  he  make  light  of  or  set  aside  altogether 
all  sectarian  barriers  in  his  relations  with  other  Christian 
workers,  longing  to  bring  them  all  into  the  closest  unity. 
This  was  one  of  the  great  desires  of  his  life,  "that  they 
all  should  be  one." 

I  have  made  quite  a  digression  from  my  story,  but 
this  which  had  been  characteristic  of  the  lad,  was  so 
strengthened  and  developed  with  years,  it  deserves  to 
be  well  understood  at  the  beginning  of  a  study  of  his 
life. 


30  Underwood  of  Korea 

As  a  little  boy  of  four,  young  Underwood  had  made 
a  child's  resolution  to  become  a  missionary,  after  hear- 
ing an  address  by  a  man  from  India,  and  this  became 
his  settled  decision  when  he  began  to  study  for  the 
ministry.  His  plan  was  to  study  medicine  as  well,  so 
as  to  go  out  fully  equipped  for  work  in  interior  stations, 
if  need  be,  where  medical  aid  could  not  be  had.  In  get- 
ting his  education,  he  was  of  course  considerably 
straitened  as  to  means,  but  even  so,  his  open-handed 
freedom  in  the  use  of  money  left  him  too  often  with 
an  empty  pocket,  not  knowing  at  all  from  whence  his 
next  meal  was  to  come.  However,  his  absolute  faith 
in  God  was  such  that  he  never  felt  a  moment's  anxiety ; 
he  never  knew  the  meaning  of  the  word  worry.  Often 
have  I  marveled,  when  remittances  were  delayed,  or 
when  we  seemed  face  to  face  with  some  critical  emer- 
gency and  could  see  no  way  out,  he  was  perfectly  cheer- 
ful and  calm ;  not  in  appearance  only  but  in  reality.  *'It 
will  be  all  right,"  he  averred,  and  so  it  always  was.  For 
example,  on  two  different  occasions  several  years  apart, 
our  supply  of  hard  coal,  very  rare  in  the  Bast,  failed  dur- 
ing a  bitter  winter,  and  none  could  be  had  either  from 
dealers  in  Seoul  or  from  the  mines  or  from  the  ports. 
More  and  more  ghastly  the  vacancy  in  the  coal  bin 
yawned,  while  lower  sank  the  thermometer,  until  at  last 
there  was  only  one  scuttleful  of  the  precious  commodity 
left,  but  still  he  was  as  confident  that  the  Lord  would 
provide  as  though  the  coal  were  there;  and  before  the 
last  scuttle  was  empty  the  coal  came  on  both  occasions 
from  utterly  unexpected  sources.  The  first  time  word  came 
from  the  palace  that  his  majesty  had  heard  of  our  need 
and  had  sent  from  the  royal  stores  more  than  enough; 


Ancestry  and  Training  31 

and  the  second  time,  some  years  later,  a  dealer  at  the 
port  sent  word  he  had  some  to  spare  and  feeling  sure 
we  should  be  glad  of  it,  had  sent  it  up  just  in  time. 

On  one  of  those  needy  days  in  college,  a  Monday,  after 
having  on  the  previous  evening  at  church  emptied  his 
pockets  at  some  specially  persuasive  call,  there  came 
a  sudden  knock  at  his  door  and  one  of  his  good  old 
professors,  refusing  to  come  in,  simply  grasped  his 
hand,  leaving  in  it  sufficient  money  to  carry  him  on 
for  some  time.  He  often  earned  a  little  filling  empty 
pulpits  and  in  the  summer  of  '82,  he  undertook  a  book- 
selling tour  through  the  country  which  turned  out  to  be 
remarkably  successful,  not  only  in  the  profits  gathered, 
but  in  the  friends  he  made.  It  was  a  veritable  tri- 
umphal march  and  was  often  recalled  with  great  glee 
in  later  days.  Years  after,  when  one  of  those  who 
had  been  a  witness  of  this  book-selling  itinerary  heard 
of  the  wonderful  avidity  with  which  Korean  crowds 
bought  books  and  tracts  from  him  she  remarked  that  she 
was  not  at  all  surprised  from  what  she  had  seen  of  his 
early  successes  in  that  line  among  New  Jersey  farmers. 

During  the  summer  of  '83  and  part  of  his  last  year  in 
the  seminary  he  had  charge  of  a  church  in  Pompton, 
N.  J.  His  relations  with  this  church  as  a  whole,  and 
with  every  individual  in  it,  seem  to  have  been  the  hap- 
piest. They  were  more  like  one  family  than  a  church 
organization,  and  everyone,  whether  young  or  old,  seems 
to  have  looked  upon  him  as  his  very  particular  friend. 
One  old  lady,  hearing  of  his  intention  to  go  to  a  heathen 
land,  replied  to  the  objection  that  they  are  hard  to 
reach :  "Oh,  they  won't  be  hard  for  him  to  win. 
He  will  love  them  all  right  into  the  Kingdom."     He 


32  Underwood  of  Korea 

pressed  the  cause  of  missions  so  often  and  insistently 
upon  these  people  that  the  consistory  warned  him  if 
they  gave  so  much  to  the  foreign  field,  they  could  never 
afford  to  pay  his  salary.  His  reply  was  characteristic : 
"Never  mind;  if  that  turns  out  to  be  the  case  I  will 
gladly  go  without  my  salary."  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
usual  amount  given  for  missions  was  very  greatly  in- 
creased (I  believe  quadrupled)  and  at  the  end  of  his 
pastorate  they  offered  to  double  his  salary.  Aside  from 
this  objection  to  his  strong  missionary  bias,  purely  on 
economical  considerations,  I  have  never  heard  of  any 
other  criticisms  or  complaints  against  the  young  pastor, 
except  that  of  an  unconverted  pew-holder  who  declared 
that  he  "couldn't  sit  and  listen  to  that  dominie  who 
preached  so  he  couldn't  sleep  nights,  thinking." 

During  that  summer  a  remarkable  revival  took  place  in 
a  somewhat  remote  country  district  in  the  hills,  the  exact 
locality  of  which,  although  I  have  been  told,  I  have  been 
unable  to  remember.  It  was  a  settlement  of  very  rough 
and  lawless  people;  many  of  them  real  outlaws  whose 
hands  seemed  to  be  turned  against  every  man.  Their 
huts  were  only  approached  by  ladders  which  they  drew 
up  on  the  approach  of  strangers.  When  they  sent  for 
young  Underwood,  he  found  the  whole  ragged,  dis- 
reputable community,  men,  women  and  children,  gath- 
ered in  a  hastily  prepared  make-shift  meeting  place, 
waiting,  for  the  first  time  in  many  of  their  lives,  to 
hear  a  message  from  God.  Most  deeply  he  felt  the 
terrible  responsibility.  Agonizing  in  prayer,  he  had 
sought  how  best  to  preach  the  truth  to  these  people 
but  no  light  came.  He  took  his  place  before  them  not 
knowing  what  he  was  to  say  but   relying  in   faith   on 


Ancestry  and  Training  33 

Christ*s  promise  to  show  in  that  hour,  how  and  what 
he  should  speak.  The  prayer  was  offered;  the  Bible 
was  opened  at  the  103d  psalm ;  the  preacher  had  read  as 
far  as  the  words,  *'Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children/' 
when  a  woman  threw  up  her  arms  screaming,  **God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner,'*  and  fell  forward  sobbing  on 
the  floor.  She  was  followed  at  once  by  one  and  another 
until  nearly  the  whole  roomful  were  sobbing,  mourning 
their  sins,  or  lying  unconscious  on  the  floor.  Mr.  Under- 
wood labored  with  them  for  hours  and  on  many  subse- 
quent days,  and  a  marvelous  change  took  place  in  the 
whole  community  in  character,  manner  of  living,  dress, 
appearance,  every  possible  way,  so  that  the  change  was 
the  wonder  of  all  the  surrounding  country.  They  were 
new-born  men.  Many  were  the  interesting  stories  of 
work  at  and  near  Pompton,  but  we  must  hasten  on  to 
the  main  life  story. 

As  I  have  said,  Mr.  Underwood  had  decided  to  be 
a  missionary  and  to  go  to  India,  and  was  taking  his 
first  year's  study  of  medicine  preparatory  thereto  at  this 
time.  He  received,  for  so  young  a  man,  a  flattering 
call  to  the  pastorate  of  one  of  the  collegiate  Reformed 
Churches  of  New  York,  which  offered  him  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  and  asked  only  one  sermon  on  Sun- 
days, and  the  charge  of  the  midweek  prayer  meeting, 
in  order  to  give  time  for  his  medical  studies.  He  had 
graduated  from  the  seminary  in  the  spring  of  '84,  and 
received  from  New  York  University  the  degree  of 
A.M.  He  was  hcenscd  to  preach  by  the  Classis  of 
Bergen  shortly  after;  m  November  of  '84  he  was  or- 
dained  by   the   Classis   of    New   Brunswick.     He   had 


34  Underwood  of  Korea 

been  led  to  think  very  seriously  of  Korea  and  her  needs 
although  his  decision  had  been  given  for  India. 

Let  me  quote  his  own  words  in  the  Quarto  Centennial 
to  the  Board.  **In  the  winter  of  '82  and  '83  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Altman,  now  of  Meiji  Gakuin,*  of  Tokio,  but  then 
a  student,  gathered  the  volunteers  of  New  Brunswick 
together  and  read  them  a  paper  he  had  been  appointed 
to  prepare  on  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  at  last  opened  by 
treaty  to  the  western  world.  The  simple  story  of  these 
twelve  OT  thirteen  millions  without  the  Gospel,  of  the 
church  praying  for  an  open  door,  the  door  opened  by 
Admiral  Shufelt's  treaty  in  '82  and  the  thought  of  a 
year  or  more  having  passed  without  a  move  on  the  part 
of  the  church  so  stirred  me  that  I  determined  to  set  to 
work  and  find  someone  to  go.  For  myself,  I  believed 
I  had  been  called  to  India  and  in  this  conviction  had 
made  certain  special  preparations  for  that  field  and  had 
spent  a  year  in  medical  study;  but  I  certainly  felt  there 
must  be  others  who  would  be  ready  to  go;  yet  do 
what  I  would,  urge  as  I  might,  a  year  passed  and  no 
one  had  ofifered.  No  church  seemed  ready  to  enter,  and 
even  the  leaders  in  the  foreign  mission  work  of  the 
churches  were  writing  articles  saying  it  was  too  early 
to  enter  Korea.  It  was  then  that  the  message  came 
home  to  me — why  not  go  yourself?  But  India,  her 
needs,  the  peculiar  call  I  believed  I  had  had  to  that 
field,  and  the  partial  special  preparation  all  loomed  up  and 
seemed  to  bar  the  way.  I  applied  twice  to  the  Re- 
formed Board  but  they  had  no  funds  to  start  a  new 
work.  I  also  applied  twice  to  the  Presbyterians  and  was 
told  it  was  useless.    The  doors  seemed  to  be  closing  on 

♦Theological  Seminary. 


Ancestry  and  Training  35 

Korea  but  wide  open  to  stay  at  home  or  go  to  India. 
So  I  wrote  a  letter  accepting  the  call  to  the  Reformed 
Church  and  was  about  to  drop  it  into  the  letter  box 
when  it  seemed  as  though  I  heard  a  voice  saying,  'No 
one  for  Korea/  " 

He  drew  back  and  decided  to  make  one  more  attempt 
with  the  Presbyterian  Board.  Here,  as  he  went  up  the 
steps,  he  passed  a  postman  coming  down  and  as  he 
entered  Dr.  Ellinwood's  office,  the  latter  remarked  that 
a  letter  had  just  then  been  received  notifying  the  Board 
that  one  whom  they  had  expected  to  send  could  not  go, 
and  therefore  that  Mr.  Underwood  would  be  gladly  ac- 
cepted and  would  receive  his  appointment  in  a  few  days. 
Mr.  McWilliams  of  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  Brooklyn,  after  reading  an  article  written  by  a 
member  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions  against  open- 
ing Korea  as  yet,  asked  Dr.  Ellinwood  if  he  could  show 
that  it  was  yet  time  to  enter  Korea.  Dr.  Ellinwood  said 
that  he  could  do  so,  and  at  a  luncheon  with  Mr.  McWil- 
liams was  able  to  prove  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  sending 
missionaries  there.  Mr.  McWilliams  then  drew  a  check 
for  six  thousand  dollars  to  begin  the  work.  Only  a  year 
before  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Allen  in  Korea,  the  Korean 
government  had  demanded  the  death  of  a  Christian 
Chinese  soldier  who  had  dared  to  sell  the  Scriptures  in 
Seoul.  He  had  been  arrested  but  was  not  killed,  owing 
to  the  intervention  of  powerful  friends.  The  Orient 
was  still  very  much  terra  incognita.  Japan  had  come 
somewhat  more  into  the  light  but  China  was  a  terrible, 
dark  unknown,  and  as  for  Korea,  even  among  the  people 
of  education  and  intelligence,  not  one  in  a  hundred  had 
more  than  heard  of  it,  or  had  the  faintest  gleam  of  an 


36  Underwood  of  Korea 

idea  where  it  was.  Those  who  had  heard  anything  had 
heard  no  good.  It  was  the  Cocee,  an  island  somewhere 
near  China  where  Jesuit  priests  who  many  years  before 
had  secretly  effected  an  entrance  had  been  caught,  tor- 
tured and  killed.  The  people,  too,  were  supposed  to  be 
a  wild  sort  of  semi-savage,  semi-barbarian  race. 

Mr.  Underwood's  brothers  decided  that  if  he  must  go 
to  those  dark  regions  perhaps  never  to  return,  he  should 
at  least  take  a  trip  to  England  and  bid  a  long  goodby  to  all 
his  kin  on  the  other  side.  So  in  the  summer  of  '84,  he 
crossed  the  Atlantic  and  paid  a  brief  visit  to  the  uncles, 
aunts  and  cousins.  None  of  them  had  had  much  expec- 
tation of  ever  seeing  him  again,  but  English  people  are 
used  to  roving  up  and  down  in  the  earth  and  going  to 
and  fro  in  it.  He  had  two  cousins  in  India,  one  in  Africa, 
one  in  Australia  and  then,  or  a  little  later,  one  in  Brazil, 
so  they  took  it  all  rather  as  a  matter  of  course. 

One  of  Mr.  Underwood's  uncles,  the  Rev.  Edward 
Jones,  who  happened  to  be  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  invited  him  around  to  the 
office  and  introduced  him  to  the  others,  one  of  whom  re- 
marked when  he  heard  his  destination,  "Korea,  Korea ;  let 
me  see,  I  believe  we  sent  a  man  out  there  some  twenty 
years  ago  and  he  was  never  heard  from  again."  This 
was  often  rehearsed  with  amusement  by  the  prospective 
sharer  of  such  a  cheerful  fate.  The  man  referred  to 
was  the  unfortunate  Mr.  Thomas,  who  was  sent  out  on 
the  American  steamer  General  Sherman  in  1866  and  was 
doubtless  killed  with  all  on  board.  But  that  Horace  was 
not  discouraged,  or  likely  to  be,  by  any  number  of  dark 
tales  and  prognostications,  goes  without  saying.  Many 
a  man  with  nothing  but  commerce  in  view  has  taken 


Ancestry  and  Training  37 

equal  risks  with  equal  sang  froid.  So  he  returned  to 
America,  joined  the  Presbytery  of  New  Jersey  by  certifi- 
cate in  December  and  started  on  his  long  journey.  He 
had  taken  out  his  papers  as  an  American  citizen  after  com- 
ing of  age  and  entered  Korea  on  an  American  citizen's 
passport.  On  one  of  his  trips  back  to  America  he  voted 
at  the  Presidential  Election  for  the  only  time  in  his  life. 
John  T.  Underwood,  his  older  brother,  went  with  him 
as  far  as  Chicago.  The  brothers  were  always  very 
deeply  attached  to  each  other,  and  even  when  Horace 
was  a  man  of  fifty,  John  still  seemed  to  think  of  him 
as  his  little  brother  who  must  be  looked  after,  advised, 
reproved  on  occasion,  and  always  loved  and  cared  for. 

Horace  supposed  he  was  starting  out  with  plenty  of 
money,  but  extra  baggage  took  most  of  his  spare  cash, 
even  though  he  went  personally  loaded  with  a  large 
camera,  a  typewriter  (not  an  Underwood  yet),  and  a 
suit  case.  San  Francisco  hotel  bills  took  about  all  that 
was  left  and,  arriving  at  Yokohama,  our  young  man  tells 
us  he  went  ashore  in  an  expensive  hotel  launch  rather 
than  the  ordinary  missionary  sampan,  because  he  could 
get  trusted  on  the  former  and  had  no  change  for  the 
latter. 

The  Hepburns,  who  had  then  been  in  Japan  a  long 
time,  met  him  and  took  him  at  once  to  their  warm 
hearts  and  comfortable  home.  In  the  Orient,  wherever 
one  missionary  meets  another,  he  meets  a  brother;  his 
house,  his  purse,  his  time,  everything  is  at  his  friend's 
disposal.  So  far  as  money  is  concerned,  almost  any- 
body, if  you  have  missionary  credentials,  will  give  you 
credit  to  almost  any  extent.  Why?  Because  first  of 
all,   you   are    the   representative*,  of   a   great   Board   in 


38  Underwood  of  Korea 

America  that  pays  its  indebtedness,  and  second  because 
missionaries,  according  to  age-oid  eastern  tradition,  have 
an  estabHshed  reputation  for  honesty  which  nothing  can 
shake.  So  Mr.  Underwood  had  no  more  trouble  about 
funds.  Steamers  were  not  going  over  often  to  such  an 
out  of  the  way  place  as  Korea,  so  while  he  waited  he  held 
special  evangelistic  services  on  the  ships  and  in  the  sailors* 
homes:  met  Rijuite,  the  Korean,  who  had  sent  out  the 
call  to  Korea,  and  began  with  him  the  study  of  the 
language. 


CHAPTER  II 
MISSIONARY  APPRENTICESHIP 

IT  was  some  months  before  a  crazy  little  steamer, 
not  larger  than  a  respectable  tug,  was  ready  to 
start  for  Korea,  and  Mr.  Underwood  was  obliged 
to  go  to  the  port  of  Kobe  or  Nagasaki,  I  have  forgotten 
which,  to  meet  it.  He  stopped  one  night  at  a  Japanese 
inn  and  found  to  his  distaste,  as  do  most  travelers  for 
the  first  time  in  Japan,  that  the  doors  were  on  thin 
sliding  partitions  with  no  locks,  and  that  several  natives 
came  back  and  forth  during  the  process  of  his  undress- 
ing and  afterwards,  without  the  trouble  of  knocking,  on 
various  pretenses, — for  covers,  lights,  shoes,  water,  what 
not.  In  a  strange  house  with  foreign  people  and  without  an 
understanding  of  the  language,  he  felt  a  little  wonder  as 
to  what  a  night  in  such  a  place  might  bring  forth.  As  he 
put  his  slender  purse  under  his  head  and  tried  to  com- 
pose himself  to  sleep,  softly  floating  on  the  quiet  night 
came  the  sweet  strains  of  "Rock  of  Ages"  sung  to  Japan- 
ese words,  and  followed  the  solemn  voice  of  prayer. 
No  need  to  lie  awake  to  guard  one's  belongings  in  that 
house,  and,  with  the  sweet  glow  we  all  feel  when  we 
unexpectedly  find  ourselves  among  Christians,  he  fell 
asleep. 

Everywhere  the  same  gruesome  tales  about  Korea  met 
him:   the  persecutions  of  Roman   Christians,  the  bar- 


40  Underwood  of  Korea 

barous  character  of  the  people;  no  trees,  no  singing 
birds,  no  flowers;  the  recent  terrible  cmente  in  Seoul 
when  the  little  band  of  revolutionists  and  Japanese  had 
to  fight  their  way  to  the  shore  and  barely  escaped  with 
their  lives.  Rev.  Mr.  Appenzeller  crossed  with  him  to 
Korea,  but  heeding  the  warning  of  the  American  Consul, 
for  the  sake  of  his  family  he  returned  for  a  short  time 
to  Japan.  Mr.  Underwood,  having  nobody  but  him- 
self, went  on  to  Chemulpo.  Korea  had  been  opened 
to  the  world  in  '82  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Allen  arrived 
in  September  of  '84.  Mr.  Underwood  arrived  in  April 
of  '85 ;  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Heron  of  the  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion, arrived  shortly  after,  in  June;  Miss  Annie  Ellers 
came  with  the  government  school  teachers  and  arrived 
in  June  of  '86.  As  to  conditions  at  that  time,  let  me 
quote  from  the  Board's  Report:  "Dr.  and  Mrs.  Allen, 
who  had  arrived  the  previous  year,  in  November,  en- 
countered so  much  suspicion  and  opposition  they  would 
have  found  it  difficult  to  remain  if  the  American  Min- 
ister had  not  appointed  Dr.  Allen  physician  to  the 
legation.  Congenial  companionships  were  few  in  those 
early  days;  foreign-built  houses  did  not  exist;  sanitary 
conditions  were  indescribable;  conveniences  to  which 
Americans  are  accustomed  were  unknown  and  mails  in- 
frequent, so  that  the  pioneer  missionaries  were  in  a  situa- 
tion of  peculiar  lonehness,  isolation  and  trial." 

Most  of  the  streets  were  narrow  and  in  the  rainy  season 
almost  impassable,  with  mud  at  times  to  one's  horses* 
girths.  There  were  filthy  ditches  full  of  stagnant  sewage, 
and  a  multitude  of  little  thatched  or  tiled  houses,  with 
larger  ones  in  big  court  yards  belonging  to  nobility ;  there 
were  palaces;  there  were  interesting  stone  walls  around 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  41 

the  city,  entered  by  imposing  iron  gates;  there  was  a 
great  white-robed  throng  of  natives,  and  scattered  in 
among  them  all  here  and  there,  enclosed  by  walls,  fair 
gardens  in  which  were  the  homes  of  foreign  officials, 
customs  officers,  business  men  and  one  missionary,  Dr. 
Allen. 

For  many  years  most  of  the  missionary  homes  were 
built  of  mud,  without  cellars,  and  with  paper  windows. 
Tigers  and  leopards  were  seen  at  times  within  the  city 
walls,  clouds  of  mosquitoes  and  flies  beset  the  residents, 
since  there  were  as  yet  no  window  screens  obtainable. 
Typhoid  and  typhus  and  other  fevers  were  common,  as 
well  as  smallpox,  dysentery,  and  sprue,  all  of  which  have 
repeatedly  claimed  their  victims  among  foreigners  even  up 
to  the  present  day.  The  people  lay  under  the  sway  of 
superstitions  of  all  sorts.  Sorcerers  controlled  the  doings 
of  every  household,  were  called  in  at  births,  sickness  and 
deaths  or  in  making  any  important  decision.  In  fact  they 
ruled  the  land,  even  the  rulers  themselves,  with  absolute 
and  unquestioned  power.  Superstition,  fear  of  ghosts, 
goblins,  and  spirits  of  angry  ancestors,  all  sorts  of  unseen 
terrors  filled  the  minds  not  only  of  the  lowly  and  the 
women,  but  even  of  many  of  the  highest  and  proudest  of 
the  people.  The  climate,  very  good  during  most  of  the 
year,  is  in  the  summers  extremely  trying  and  debilitat- 
ing. The  heat  combined  with  the  humidity,  due  to  the 
almost  continuous  rains,  saps  the  vitality  of  the  hardiest, 
and  after  a  season  spent  in  one  of  the  cities,  especially 
Seoul,  Pyeng  Yang  or  Taiku,  everybody  shows  signs 
of  languor  and  exhaustion,  and  often  the  weakest  suc- 
cumb. Mr.  Underwood  was  never  known  to  complain, 
however;  from  his  testimony  one  would  only  suppose 


42  Underwood  of  Korea 

it  was  a  Paradise.  The  writer  has  frequently  heard 
him  speak  with  gratitude  that  God  had  sent  him  to  so 
delightful  a  field  and  his  long  and  serious  illnesses  were 
only  thought  of  as  trifling  and  temporary  difficulties,  not 
worth  remembering  or  mentioning. 

Before  proceeding  further  it  will  be  necessary  to  say 
a  few  words  on  social  conditions  among  missionaries 
in  general  and  these  in  particular.  The  strain  of  life  in 
the  Orient  upon  Westerners,  especially  those  living  in 
very  small  communities  of  half  a  dozen  or  less  families, 
with  infrequent  communication  with  civilization  and 
with  practically  no  mental  diversion  from  their  work, 
has  been  strongly  stated  and  vividly  and  repeatedly 
illustrated  by  Kipling  in  his  Tales  of  Civil  Service 
and  Army  Life  in  lonely  stations  in  India.  We  have 
seen  the  truth  of  his  words  proved  among  missionaries 
in  Korea,  many  times.  Missionaries  in  far  interior 
lonely  stations  need  a  temporary  change  every  year 
and  a  permanent  one  at  least  once  in  five  years,  to 
be  at  their  best  and  avoid  breakdown.  Now  among 
these  poor  young  people  of  ours  in  Seoul  in  those  hard 
early  days,  owing  no  doubt  to  rather  unusually  trying 
conditions,  there  came  misunderstandings  and  even 
actual  bitterness  which  people  in  the  homelands,  with 
their  impossibly  high  ideal  of  the  superhuman  saintli- 
ness  of  missionaries,  would  be  surprised  and  pained  to 
learn.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  pity  that  mission- 
aries are  so  much  overrated  and  misunderstood.  We 
should  be  so  much  better  prayed  for,  more  efficiently 
sympathized  with,  if  people  only  knew  just  what  we  have 
to  contend  with.  It  will  be  impossible  to  write  a  life 
of  Mr.  Underwood  which  shall  be  in  any  sense  a  true 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  43 

one  without  some  reference  to  the  circumstances  which  he 
was  forced  to  struggle  against  and  overcome.  Mission- 
aries are  Hke  other  real  Christians,  no  better,  no  worse. 
The  writer  once  thought  that,  arrived  on  the  mission  fields, 
we  should  somehow  be  better,  but  no,  as  we  were  in  the 
homeland,  so  are  we  on  the  mission  field.  He  that  was 
holy  is  holy  still ;  he  that  was  righteous  is  righteous  still, 
and  he  that  was  in  the  seventh  of  Romans  is  in  the 
seventh  of  Romans  still,  in  China  or  Korea.  There  are 
the  usual  shortcomings  of  the  more  or  less  imperfectly 
sanctified.  Some  of  us  are  domineering  and  seem  to 
want  to  run  things  pretty  generally;  some  are  quick- 
tempered; some  are  selfish;  some  are  narrow  and 
bigoted.  Almost  any  one  who  has  lived  a  few  months 
on  the  mission  field  will  recall  such  persons.  We  really 
are  true  Christians ;  we  intend  well,  nearly  all  do  a  great 
deal  of  good,  faithful  mission  work,  and  shine  in  an 
immoral  non-Christian  world.  But  even  so,  friction  and 
difiiculties  are  whispered  of  as  in  the  days  of  Paul  in 
the  house  of  Chloe.  We  lament  and  grieve  over  this  but 
alas,  the  flesh  is  weak.  It  is  certain  that  conditions  in 
those  early  days  were  more  to  be  blamed  than  the  young 
workers. 

The  two  neutrals.  Miss  E and  Mr.  Underwood 

shared  the  common  fate  of  that  unpopular  class,  and 
came  in  for  their  part  of  the  heartaches  that  were  the  lot 
of  all.  The  sympathies  of  Mr.  Underwood,  I  know,  were 
now  with  one,  now  with  the  other  of  the  parties  most 
at  odds.  Both  of  them  must  have  been  partly  in  the 
right  and  partly  in  the  wrong,  and  probably  both  would 
admit  as  much  if  called  to  the  witness-stand.  One  grows 
very  tired  of  the  over  exaggerated  reports  of  these  family 


44  Underwood  of  Korea 

affairs,  and  the  way  in  which  both  Miss  E and 

Mr.  Underwood,  without  the  least  reason,  have  been  con- 
sidered active  participants  in  controversies  which  they 
were  merely  compelled  to  witness.  Two  men,  who  had 
disagreed,  a  few  years  later,  when  very  ill,  called  for  Mr. 
Underwood  to  nurse  them,  and  preferred  him  to  all  others, 
showing  every  sign  of  mutual  confidence  and  affection; 
and  one  of  them,  on  the  death  of  the  other,  did  every- 
thing in  his  power,  and  it  was  much,  to  help  the  widow 
and  smooth  her  path,  showing  that  all  that  had  passed  was 
only  the  superficial  ebullition  of  overstrained  nerves  in 
a  very  difficult  situation,  while  underneath  lay  all  the 
time  brotherly  love  and  Christian  charity. 

Mr.  Underwood,  during  his  first  years,  set  about 
learning  the  language  at  once  and,  almost  coincident  with 
this,  began  to  prepare  a  translation  of  Mark's  gospel,  and 
a  dictionary.  He  used  Chinese  tracts  at  the  first,  as  these 
could  be  read  by  the  scholarly,  and  busied  himself  in 
getting  his  house,  an  old  Korean  building,  into  condition 
suitable  for  occupancy.  He  gathered  some  little  waifs 
into  an  orphanage  and  helped  Dr.  Allen  in  the  hospital 
clinics  (although,  as  he  fainted  twice  in  surgical  opera- 
tions at  the  sight  of  blood,  he  was  obliged  to  confine 
his  attentions  to  the  dispensary  and  medical  side).  He 
also  taught  physics  and  chemistry  in  what  was  called 
the  Royal  Korean  Medical  College,  too  large  a  name  for 
it  perhaps  at  that  time,  although  it  actually  was  the 
embryonic  stage  of  what  afterwards  developed  into  a  real 
medical  college. 

The  Home  and  School  for  orphan  boys  was  started 
early  in  1886.  It  might  appropriately  be  noted  here, 
that  even  then  Mr.  Underwood  confided  to  Mr.  Hul- 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  45 

bert,  his  sympathetic  friend,  his  hope  one  day  to  establish 
in  Korea  a  college  and  theological  seminary.  It  was 
like  his  far-visioned  habit  of  mind.  This  orphanage  re- 
ceived the  hearty  approval  of  his  Majesty  the  king,  and 
in  after  years  became  the  John  D.  Wells  Academy  for 
Christian  Workers.  There  was  a  Korean  superintendent, 
but  practically  the  whole  supervision  of  the  home  as  well 
as  the  teaching  of  the  various  classes,  devolved  upon  Mr. 
Underwood  for  the  first  year  or  two.  It  was  in  connec- 
tion with  this  school  that  he  was  led  to  take  charge  of 
little  John,  "Kim  Kiu  Silk"  or  'Ton  Ga-be"  as  he  was 
then  called.  This  little  fellow's  father,  who  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  rank,  holding  an  official  position,  had  been 
banished  for  some  political  offence,  and  his  mother  was 
supposed  to  be  dead.  His  uncles  were  in  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, and,  anxious  to  be  rid  of  the  expense  and 
care  of  the  child,  brought  him  to  the  newly  established 
orphanage.  As  he  was  only  about  four  years  of  age  and 
it  was  difficult  to  arrange  for  the  care  of  such  little  chil- 
dren, he  was  sent  back  to  his  relatives,  but,  not  long  after, 
word  came  that  the  child  was  very  ill  and  suffering  from 
neglect,  so  Mr.  Underwood,  though  far  from  well  himself 
at  that  time,  got  into  a  sedan  chair,  taking  canned  milk  and 
medicine  with  him,  and  found  the  poor  little  one  starv- 
ing, frantically  wailing  for  food,  trying  to  tear  off  and 
devour  the  paper  from  the  wall.  Against  the  protests 
of  doctors  and  other  missionaries  who  believed  the  child 
must  certainly  die  and  that  Americans  would  be  held 
responsible  for  his  death  by  the  natives,  he  was  taken 
home  by  Mr.  Underwood  who,  with  tender  care,  coaxed 
back  the  little  life  to  normal,  happy  chiluhood.  He 
learned  English  quickly  and  became  in  time  one  of  the 


46  Underwood  of  Korea 

most  earnest  and  efficient  of  native  Christian  workers, 
teaching  in  the  school,  taking  a  leading  part  in  the  church 
and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  acting  as  Mr.  Underwood's  secretary 
for  years. 

Classes  for  the  study  of  English  were  started  in 
"sarangs,"  native  guest  rooms,  where  advantage  was 
taken  of  their  eager  desire  to  learn  English,  to  drop  seeds 
of  the  gospel  mainly  through  Christian  tracts  in  the  ver- 
nacular and  what  little  Korean  the  young  missionary  had 
been  able  to  pick  up.  After  the  first  year  Mr.  Underwood 
could  preach  a  sermon  in  the  vernacular  and  began  to 
publish  some  simple  tracts. 

In  1888  Mr.  Underwood  suggested  the  establishment 
of  the  Korean  Religious  Tract  Society  and  made  appeals 
to  the  Tract  Society  of  Toronto,  the  American  Tract 
Society  and  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London  for 
financial  aid.  All  these  consented  to  make  grants  for 
immediate  publication  to  be  begun  in  a  small  way,  and 
in  1889  the  Korean  Religious  Tract  Society  was  organized 
to  be  under  local  control,  though  subsidized  by  periodical 
grants  from  such  societies  as  have  been  mentioned. 
The  first  officers  were:  Rev  F.  Ohlinger,  Chairman, 
Rev.  H.  B.  Hulbert.  Vice-Chairman,  Rev.  H.  G.  Un- 
derwood, Corresponding  Secretary,  Dr.  W.  B.  Scran- 
ton,  Recording  Secretary,  Rev.  Malcolm  Fenwick, 
Treasurer.  In  the  main  the  society  drew  its  funds  from 
the  native  church  and  the  missionaries.  For  years  the 
Tract  Society  had  no  building  and  no  paid  secretary  to 
give  his  time  to  its  work,  but  it  did  a  flourishing  work, 
increasing  with  the  growth  of  the  native  church. 

A  little  over  a  year  after  his  arrival  in  Korea,  he  pub- 
lished the  first  tentative  version  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark, 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  47 

which  he  and  Mr.  Appenzeller  had  worked  over  together. 
He  was  from  the  first  eager  to  have  the  Bible  translation, 
publication,  and  distribution  arranged  for,  so  at  the  earH- 
est  possible  moment  the  Permanent  Executive  Bible  Com- 
mittee was  formed,  composed  of  representatives  elected 
from  the  various  missionary  bodies.  This  committee  ad- 
vises and  controls  the  translating  through  a  Board  of 
Translators  elected  by  them,  and  directs  the  printing  and 
circulation  with  the  assistance  of  the  Bible  society  agents. 
Mr.  Underwood  wrote  to  the  Home  Societies  at  the 
earliest  moment  and  their  agents  were  soon  on  the  field, 
ready  to  help.  Dr.  Hepburn  of  Japan  had  suggested  to 
him  the  forming  of  this  committee  in  1887,  ^^^  i^  was 
done  that  summer,  immediately  on  his  return  from  Japan, 
where  he  saw  to  the  printing  of  Mark.  Mr.  Underwood, 
Mr.  Appenzeller  and  Dr.  Scranton  were  the  first  Board  of 
Translators,  Mr.  Underwood  being  the  Chairman  during 
his  lifetime  and  the  only  one  who  served  from  the 
beginning,  except  when  he  was  absent  on  furlough.  The 
Board  was  somewhat  changed  from  time  to  time.  Mr. 
Appenzeller,  like  Mr.  Underwood,  served  until  his 
death.  They  both  paid  dearly  for  the  privilege  of  this 
service,  though  they  never  counted  their  lives  dear  to 
them  for  anything  done  for  the  Lord  or  Korea;  but 
Mr.  Appenzeller  was  drowned  on  his  way  to  a  meeting  of 
the  Board,  and  Mr.  Underwood  worked  on  translation  all 
through  the  summer  vacation  of  191 5  when  in  very  feeble 
health,  instead  of  trying  to  recuperate  for  the  heavy 
duties  of  the  fall  and  winter,  and  never  again  regained 
the  strength  he  had  lost.  He  always  regarded  Bible 
translation  as  one  of  his  most  important  duties,  for  he 
fully  believed  that  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the  people 


48  Underwood  of  Korea 

can  do  the  best  preaching.  For  this  reason  he  not  only 
distributed  and  sold  many  copies  on  all  his  country 
trips,  but  gave  much  attention  to  directing  the  native 
colporteurs  and  Bible  women,  and  inspired  them  with 
much  of  his  own  energy.  A  letter  recently  received 
from  a  young  Korean  who  knew  him  in  those  early  days 
and  was  for  two  years  under  his  tutelage,  says:  "We 
called  him  Pul  Tongari  (a  bundle  of  fire),  and  Nulbun 
Nalgai  (wide  wings),  for  he  covered  so  many  things.  I 
never  knew  a  single  moment,  during  all  my  close  rela- 
tion with  him  of  two  years,  when  he  seemed  depressed 
by  sorrow  or  in  anger."  Another  writes:  **It  was  most 
fitting  that  in  191 1,  when  the  Bible  House  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  to  be  erected  in  Seoul, 
he  was  chosen  to  lay  the  corner  stone,  representing  the 
foreign  constituency.  Mr.  Underwood  was  elected  an 
honorary  foreign  member  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  and  no  missionary  was  more  welcome  at 
the  meetings  of  the  committee  in  London." 

Mr.  Underwood  was  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trans- 
lators, as  I  have  said,  from  the  beginning.  Drs.  Gale  and 
Reynolds,  who  have  served  faithfully  for  many  years, 
were  the  two  regularly  appointed  translators  left  at  the 
time  of  his  decease. 

Although  the  method  of  Bible  translating  has  been 
described  in  detail  before,  I  venture  a  repetition  here, 
giving  Mr.  Underwood's  own  words  as  written  for 
the  ''Korean  Mission  Field"  about  five  years  ago,  pre- 
fixing what  he  said  with  the  statement  that  to  insure 
accuracy,  the  translators  used  the  Greek,  Hebrew,  Latin, 
French,  German,  Chinese  and  the  English  Revised  Ver- 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  49 

sions  as  reference  books.  Although  somewhat  long,  I 
quote  the  whole  article  referred  to : 

"From  the  first  arrival  of  missionaries  in  this  country 
the  need  for  speedy  translation  of  the  Scriptures  was 
apparent  and,  while  they  desired  to  learn  the  language  in 
order  to  talk  directly  with  the  people,  a  greater  induce- 
ment in  the  minds  of  everyone  was  to  put  God's  Word 
in  the  vernacular. 

*The  difficulty  of  the  undertaking  was  apparent  in  the 
fact  that  the  thing  which  must  be  done  was  to  put  the 
entire  concept  of  the  Word,  yet  nothing  more,  into  the 
tongue  of  the  people.  We  could  not  make  it  literal,  but 
our  obligation  was  to  put  the  idiom  of  the  original  into 
the  corresponding  idiom  of  the  Korean.  Much  as  we 
dreaded  making  mistakes,  the  importance  of  this  work 
so  urged  us  on  that  within  a  year  of  our  landing  we 
were  attempting  individual  versions,  and  early  in  '86 
the  Rev.  H.  G.  Appen^eller  united  with  the  writer  in 
a  translation  of  Mark's  Gospel. 

"Immediately  on  the  return  of  the  writer  from  Japan 
on  this  errand,  under  the  advice  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn 
the  missionaries  organized  the  Permanent  Bible  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  Korea,  which  undertook  the  oversight 
of  the  translating  and  publication  of  the  Scriptures. 

"The  Rev.  A.  A.  Pieters,  the  Rev.  M.  N.  Trollope  and 
the  Rev.  G.  H.  Jones  each  were  employed  for  a  short 
time  on  the  Board  which,  however,  since  the  death  of 
Mr.  Appenzeller  (who  for  a  number  of  years  made  this 
his  chief  work)  has  mainly  counted  only  three  members 
— Drs.  Gale,  Reynolds  and  the  writer. 

"At  first  individual  translations  of  the  New  Testament 
were  tentatively  published  by  the  committee,  but  as  fast 


50  Underwood  of  Korea 

as  possible  these  were  superseded  by  the  revised  trans- 
lation of  the  whole  Board,  and  the  entire  revised  New 
Testament  was  given  to  Korea  in  1906,  although  the 
tentative  individual  version  was  in  the  church's  hands 
in  1900.  At  the  same  time  much  individual  work  had 
been  done  in  the  Old  Testament,  different  books  having 
been  apportioned  to  each  member  of  the  committee, 
which  were  revised  as  fast  as  the  joint  committee  were 
able,  with  their  other  duties,  to  complete  them.  After 
quite  a  number  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  had 
been  thus  prepared  and  revised,  some  of  the  more  ex- 
perienced Koreans  were  added  as  regular  members  of 
the  Board,  though  of  course  they  or  others  had  been 
working  with  the  translators  from  the  first,  and  the  work 
of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  absence,  part  of  the  time 
of  one,  then  the  other,  and  for  nearly  a  year  of  both 
the  senior  translators,  was  largely  pushed  forward  by 
Dr.  W.  D.  Reynolds,  and  the  whole  Bible  was  com- 
pleted and  given  to  the  Koreans  in  191 1. 

*T  suppose  that  many  will  understand  the  kind  of  prob- 
lems that  confronted  the  translators.  They  were  similar 
to  those  met  in  attempting  to  make  such  a  translation 
into  any  tongue,  except  that  here  the  country  had  been 
so  completely  sealed  there  were  almost  no  language  helps 
at  the  first.  It  is,  of  course,  a  first  essential  that  a 
translator  shall  be  well  acquainted  with  the  language 
he  is  to  use,  as  well  as  with  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
original ;  for  with  a  book  like  the  Bible,  where  the  turn 
of  a  single  phrase — nay,  the  definition  of  a  single  word 
— may  effect  thousands  of  souls,  the  original  must  be 
as  perfectly  conveyed  as  it  possibly  can  be  in  the  medium 
used. 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  51 

"In  the  translator's  effort  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
language  to  be  used,  he  of  course  endeavored  to  secure 
the  assistance  of  those  best  qualified  for  the  purpose — 
the  finest  scholars  to  be  secured — and  in  so  doing,  unless 
he  very  carefully  kept  in  closest  touch  v^ith  the  common 
people  he  would  be  in  danger  of  acquiring  a  literary 
style  that  would  be  far  beyond  the  comprehension  of 
the  great  bulk  of  those  for  whom  the  work  was  destined. 
The  committee  had  to  endeavor  to  steer  between  the 
Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  high  literary  style  and  vulgarity, 
and  give  something  that  would  be  so  simple  in  style  that 
the  most  ignorant  could  understand,  and  yet  so  pure  and 
chaste  that  it  would  commend  itself  to  the  scholarly. 

"It  is  not  pretended  that  this  ideal  has  been  entirely 
reached,  but  the  writer  believes  that  the  only  way  by 
which  it  can  be  fully  obtained  will  be  through  the 
medium  of  scholarly  Koreans  who  have  been  thoroughly 
trained  in  the  original  languages  in  which  God's  Word 
was  written.  Such  men  we  hope  to  have  in  the  future, 
and  to  them  we  must  look  for  our  future  translation. 

"In  the  beginning,  the  greatest  difficulty,  after  the 
translators  had  come  to  a  consensus  of  opinion  on  the 
real  meaning  of  the  text  (often  taking  hours  of  study), 
was  to  convey  a  perfectly  clear  idea  of  this  to  the  minds 
of  the  native  assistants,  who  must  be  depended  upon 
to  put  it  into  the  purest  idiomatic  Korean;  for  often 
the  language  had  no  words  for  these  abstract  and 
spiritual  truths,  and  new  expressions  must  be  coined 
or  the  end  reached  in  a  roundabout  way,  with  illustrations 
and  explanations.  But  even  when  they  had  quite  grasped 
the  idea  still  another  difficult  task  remained,  namely, 
to  see  that  they  did  not  express  it  in  such  stilted  and 


52  Underwood  of  Korea 

classical  Sinico-Korean  that  the  common  people  could 
not  understand.  This  is  the  inveterate  tendency  of  all 
Oriental  scholars;  and  it  is  often  almost  impossible  to 
induce  them  to  use  language  sufficiently  clear  and  simple. 
Thus,  especially  at  the  first,  the  committee  would  some- 
times spend  an  entire  day  over  three  or  four  verses  of 
one  of  the  Gospels,  with  long,  wearisome  discussions 
and  arguments,  first  with  each  other,  over  the  original 
meaning,  and  later  with  the  Koreans  over  the  render- 
ing in  the  native  tongue. 

"I  have  spoken  of  various  helps  used,  but  have  not 
mentioned  the  first  and  greatest — prayer.  Each  man 
deeply  felt  the  great  responsibility  of  the  work  under- 
taken and  his  unfitness  for  it  without  the  Holy  Spirit's 
help,  and  together  and  in  private  they  sought  the 
wisdom  needed;  without  this  they  knew  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  accomplish  their  task. 

*The  demands  of  the  evangelistic  and  other  work  have 
been  so  great  that  the  translating  had  gone  on  more 
slowly  than  if  our  hands  had  been  free  to  do  nothing 
else.  Illness,  enforcing  absence;  the  regular  furloughs > 
very  necessary  to  people  living  under  such  tension,  have 
all  caused  delay;  yet  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  but 
little  overpassed  since  the  first  Protestant  missionaries 
landed,  and  the  whole  Bible  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
people. 

"Without  the  Great  Helper  and  Teacher  who  raised  up 
other  workers  when  some  were  removed,  who  gave  wis- 
dom and  grace,  and  overruled  and  directed  all,  this  would 
have  been  impossible.  To  him  be  glory  and  praise  for 
his  great  gift." 

Mr.  Underwood  somehow  found  time  to  spend  a  good         ^ 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  53 

many  hours  on  the  language,  and  evenings  he  regularly 
held  a  reception  in  his  study  for  his  teacher's  native 
friends,  when  he  sat  and  drank  in  the  strange  new  sounds, 
trying  to  familiarize  himself  as  quickly  as  possible  with 
the  language.  Even  at  that  time  he  was  beginning  the 
preparation  of  a  dictionary  and  other  language  helps. 

As  for  evangelistic  work,  Mr.  Underwood's  own  words 
will  give  an  idea  of  the  early  beginnings:  "As  soon  as 
we  had  secured  a  little  knowledge  of  the  language,  we 
regularly  went  out  into  the  lanes  and  byways  and,  sit- 
ting down  under  some  tree  near  a  frequented  highway 
or  beside  some  medicinal  spring,  to  which  the  people 
were  in  the  habit  of  flocking,  we  v/ould  take  out  a  book 
and  start  reading,  and  when  several  gathered  round  us 
to  ask  questions,  we  would  attempt  to  explain  to  them 
the  book,  its  truths,  and  what  it  meant.  But  of  course 
in  all  this  it  was  necessary  to  find  some  common  ground 
on  which  we  both  stood  and  lead  them  gradually  from 
what  was  to  them  the  known  to  the  unknown.  Later 
this  street  work  developed  further  and  gatherings  were 
held  on  larger  streets  or  in  villages  and  in  certain  dis- 
tricts street  chapels  were  opened.  The  Koreans,  how- 
ever, had  no  theaters  or  lecture  halls;  were  not  accus- 
tomed to  gathering  in  large  meetings  and  from  the  very 
start  we  rehed  considerably  on  the  hand-to-hand  work 
that  could  be  done  in  the  native  sarangs  (guest-rooms)." 

The  story  of  the  first  convert,  Mr.  No,  has  been  told 
repeatedly  and  yet  it  is  so  eloquent  a  witness  for  the 
power  of  God's  Word,  I  cannot  but  tell  it  once  again. 
He  was  a  Korean  gentleman  who  was  full  of  curi- 
osity about  foreign  countries  and  especially  about  their 
religion,  which,  he  had  read,  was  very  vile.     He  was 


54  Underwood  of  Korea 

afraid  and  ashamed  to  have  anyone  know  he  was  inter- 
ested in  this  reHgion,  for  professing  which,  not  so  long 
ago,  many  of  his  compatriots  had  been  tortured,  and 
beheaded.  So  he  pretended  to  be  teaching  Dr.  Allen 
Korean  and  studying  English  himself,  keeping  mean- 
while a  sharp  lookout  for  every  opportunity  to  gain  his 
forbidden  fruit.  So  one  day  when  he  spied  two  gospels 
on  the  study  table,  'The  Good  News  According  to  Luke," 
and  "The  Good  News  According  to  Matthew,"  he  hastily 
stowed  them  away  in  his  big  sleeves  without  the  least 
compunction,  and  hurried  home  with  his  stolen  sweets. 
Bread  eaten  in  secret  is  pleasant,  and  so  our  good  friend 
sat  down  with  keen  satisfaction  to  peruse  the  supposedly 
forbidden  literature.  It  soon  gripped  him  with  its  won- 
derful charm;  it  appealed  even  to  his  prejudiced  mind  as 
true  as  well  as  beautiful.  He  read  all  night  and  in  the 
morning  had  become  so  thoroughly  convinced  that  it  was 
indeed  the  Word  of  God,  that  he  was  willing  to  risk  his 
life  upon  it  and  boldly  and  openly  confessed  in  Mr. 
Underwood's  study  that  it  was  "good  and  grand,"  the 
faith  by  which  he  desired  to  live  and  die.  Perfect  love 
had  cast  out  fear.  The  Word  of  God  makes  its  own  most 
powerful  appeal  to  those  who  give  it  a  fair  hearing. 
This  is  so  common  a  fact  that  it  is  a  well  known  saying 
among  the  native  unbelievers  in  the  whole  Orient  that 
the  Bible  has  a  magic  by  which  those  who  read  it  must 
believe  whether  they  will  or  not. 

In  his  brief  reminiscenses  of  twenty-five  years  Mr. 
Underwood  says :  "As  we  looked  at  this  man,  we  seemed 
to  see  a  vision  of  those  others  behind  him  who  would 
follow ;  we  knew  that  day  had  begun  to  dawn  in  dark 
Korea  and  felt  sure  that  one  believer  was  a  pledge  to 


c 

>^ 

to 
c 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  55 

us  from  God  of  a  people  whom  He  would  make  His 
own." 

Mr.  No  was  secretly  baptized  on  July  ii,  1886,  and 
the  following  spring  three  others  were  also  received  in 
secret  when  the  first  church  was  organized.  There  is 
a  positive  record  of  a  communion  service  in  Mr.  Under- 
wood's house,  the  first  held,  in  December,  1887,  with  only 
seven  com.municants. 

Mr.  Underwood's  experiences  in  the  hospital  were 
soon  proved  to  be  only  a  part  of  those  services  for  the 
sick  which  it  was  to  be  his  privilege  to  render,  not  only 
then  but  all  through  his  future  years  in  Korea.  In  small 
communities  in  foreign  lands,  especially  in  remote  interior 
stations,  people  must  help  each  other  in  cases  of  seri- 
ous illness  and  take  turns  at  day  and  night  nursing 
sometimes  for  weeks.  He  seemed  to  have  been  born 
with  a  special  instinct  for  nursing,  so  that  every  patient 
he  ever  cared  for  preferred  him  at  the  bedside;  and 
often,  half  delirious  or  with  the  petulance  of  the  very 
ill,  made  very  embarrassing  comparisons  between  him 
and  other  nurses  in  their  presence.  So  gentle  was  he, 
so  quiet,  so  alert,  so  thoughtful  of  every  possible  want 
before  the  patient  felt  it,  and  yet  so  unobtrusive,  that  it 
might  be  said  with  truth  that  few  trained  nurses  could 
compare  with  him.  In  those  days  and  long  thereafter 
smallpox  held  deadly  sway  in  Korea.  All  the  little  chil- 
dren had  it,  so  that  parents  were  said  not  to  count  their 
families  until  they  had  come  safely  through  it.  All 
foreigners  were  unavoidably  exposed.  Often  there  were 
cases  on  the  street  carried  past  one  on  people's  backs; 
or  our  servants  brought  the  contagion  from  their  homes 
to  our  kitchens  and  nurseries,  but  it  was  soon  proved 


56  Underwood  of  Korea 

beyond  a  peradventure  that  those  who  had  been  well  vacci- 
nated were  practically  immune.  But  an  unfortunate  young 
American  came  to  Seoul  in  those  earliest  days,  as  an 
artist  for  Harper's  Magazine,  who  had  not  been  vac- 
cinated. He  was  exposed  to  the  disease  and  fell  desper- 
ately ill.  He  was  quite  alone,  with  no  one  in  that  part 
of  the  world  on  whom  he  had  a  claim,  and  lay  there 
terribly  sick  with  perhaps  the  most  shocking  and  repulsive 
of  all  afflictions,  the  confluent,  so  called  "black  small- 
pox." Dr.  Allen  called  for  a  nurse  from  among  the 
little  bunch  of  foreigners :  officials,  merchants,  teachers, 
missionaries.  People  naturally  shrank  with  horror  at 
the  suggestion,  but  Mr.  Underwood,  of  course,  was  ready 
and  took  charge  of  the  patient  until  the  sad  end,  with 
the  same  tender  care  he  would  have  given  his  own  brother. 
During  the  summer  of  '86  there  was  a  terrible  epi- 
demic of  Asiatic  cholera  in  Seoul  and  its  vicinity.  Dead 
bodies  lay  on  the  streets  and  lanes  on  all  sides.  People 
dropped  and  died  in  an  hour.  The  little  band  of  mis- 
sionaries was  too  small,  with  as  yet  almost  no  native 
helpers,  to  carry  on  any  effective  struggle  against  it,  but 
they  did  what  they  could.  Dr.  Allen  provided  them  with 
certain  remedies  and  disinfectants  and  they  tried  to  help 
as  best  they  might.  Mr.  Underwood  one  day  received 
the  appalling  information  that  his  cook  had  fallen  dead 
in  the  kitchen  from  the  disease,  and  as  there  were 
guests  in  the  house,  nothing  could  be  done  but  to  clean 
up  with  all  secrecy  and  dispatch,  no  doubt  the  quicker 
the  better.  So  quickly,  so  quietly  and  so  thoroughly 
was  everything  done  that  supper  was  cooked  there  and 
eaten  with  relish  with  no  one  the  wiser  or  the  worse. 
No  doubt  the  care  they  gave  to  the  sick,  ineffective  as 


\  Missionary  Apprenticeship  57 

it  seemed,  helped  to  show  the  natives  what  sort  of  people 
these  foreigners  were  and  to  win  a  place  in  their  good 
will. 

Mr.  Underwood's  housekeeping  was  a  good  deal  of 
a  problem.  Unknown  coolies  or  others,  called  in  from 
mercy  knows  where  or  what  surroundings,  could  scarcely 
be  expected  to  be  clean  and  honest  servants,  and 
certainly  hadn't  the  glimmering  of  an  idea  how  western 
food  should  be  cooked  or  how  a  western  house  should 
be  cared  for,  or  clothes  laundered  in  any  way  but  by 
pounding  them  on  a  stone  in  the  nearest  stream.  So 
the  young  theologue,  teacher  and  translator  varied  his 
work  by  teaching  his  servants  how  to  cook,  scrub  floors, 
wash  dishes,  trim  lamps,  take  care  of  a  foreign  stove 
and  launder  clothes.  The  art  of  starching  collars  and 
shirts  he  practised  at  night  when  the  help  were  all  gone, 
hiding  the  gruesome  failures  from  critical  eyes. 

It  was  rather  hard  to  get  beef  properly  killed  and  cut 
up,  so  he  and  Dr.  Heron  obtained  a  permit  to  run  their 
own  meat  market  and  armed  with  Miss  Parloa's  cook- 
book directions,  they  made  a  formal  contract  with  a 
native  butcher  whom  they  would  teach  to  cut  up  the 
meat  in  the  proper  fashion.  The  dictionary  was  very 
necessary  at  that  time  in  making  arrangements  of  this 
formal  description,  so  hunting  for  the  right  word,  he 
found  one  meaning  promise,  agree,  contract,  consent  to, 
etc.,  and  feeling  satisfied  he  had  the  very  expression 
needed,  he  made  the  wondering  but  submissive  man 
repeat  it  solemnly  after  him.  He  discovered,  however, 
before  the  interview  was  entirely  done,  that  all  the 
solemn  promises  related  to  a  contract  to  marry  and  he 
had  bound  the  butcher  by  the  most  severe  adjurations 


58  Underwood  of  Korea 

to  enter  the  state  of  matrimony  although  no  doubt  he 
already  had  one,  if  not  more  than  one  wife. 

A  great  deal  of  favor  was  shown  by  the  court  to  all 
the  foreigners  and  those  in  connection  with  the  hospital 
or  medical  school  were  regularly  remembered  like  high 
native  officials,  with  gifts  of  fans,  honey  water,  eggs, 
pheasants,  beef,  fish,  nuts  and  dried  persimmons,  sent 
on  royal  birthdays.  New  Years,  and  other  special  holi- 
days, from  the  palace.  The  highest  nobles,  and  especially 
the  Home  and  Foreign  Office  officials,  called  upon  Mr. 
Underwood  frequently  in  his  home,  as  well  as  upon 
the  doctors,  and  sometimes  they  were  all  invited  to  skate 
in  the  ponds  on  the  palace  grounds,  or  to  a  dinner  served 
in  fine  foreign  style  in  one  of  the  palaces.  Usually 
either  Prince  Min  Yong  Whan  or  some  other  high  dig- 
nitary near  the  throne  acted  as  host.  The  friendships 
formed  at  this  time  have  lasted  through  life  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  and  pohtical  upheavals  which  have  shaken 
that  little  country  for  thirty  years. 

Very  soon  after  joining  the  little  mission,  Mr.  Under- 
wood was  made  treasurer,  a  task  the  difficulties  of  which 
at  the  time  it  was  not  easy  to  appreciate.  The  general 
medium  of  exchange  among  the  people  was  brass  coinage 
about  the  size  of  a  silver  quarter  with  a  hole  in  the 
center  by  means  of  which  it  was  strung  on  a  straw  rope. 
Each  piece  was  counted  about  the  value  of  five  official 
*'cash"  and  somewhere  from  2500  to  3500  "cash"  went 
to  the  dollar,  so  that  one  must  have  at  least  500  of  these 
pieces  of  brass  to  buy  a  dollar's  worth  in  the  market. 
A  coolie  with  the  pannier  called  a  "jicky''  on  his  back 
or  with  a  pack  pony  or  an  ox,  would  be  indispensable 
for  a  society  woman's  shopping  on  Fifth  Avenue  with 


Missionary  Apprenticeship  59 

this  money.  The  difficulty  with  it  was  not  only  its  bulk 
and  weight  and  the  time  it  took  to  balance  acounts 
when  so  many  little  brass  pieces  must  be  counted,  but 
the  constant  changes  in  its  value ;  the  difference  between 
the  kind  and  value  of  the  cash  used  in  the  country  and 
that  in  the  city;  the  frequent  debasing  of  the  currency 
by  dishonest  coiners;  all  added  to  the  trials  of  every- 
body who  had  to  do  with  it.  All  the  coolies,  servants 
and  merchants,  had  to  be  paid  in  this  coinage  and  part 
at  least  of  the  missionaries'  salaries  had  at  times  to  be 
taken  in  that  as  well.  Dr.  Allen  says  he  had  a  room 
eight  feet  square  and  high,  which  was  filled  to  the  top 
with  fifty  dollars  worth  of  "cash."  I  have  often  heard 
Mr.  Underwood  tell  how  Mr.  Appenzeller,  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  he,  went  down  to  the  port 
of  Chemulpo,  28  miles  distant,  to  buy  300  gold  dollars 
worth  of  "cash,"  which  they  intended  to  bring  back  to  the 
capital  together,  but  there  were  not  enough  oxen  and  pack 
ponies  in  Chemulpo  to  bring  it  all  at  once.  It  would  be  a 
heavy  load  for  twelve  large  oxen  as  10,000  "cash"  make 
a  "bundle  of  strings,"  and  one  large  ox  might  carry 
ten  bundles.  So  one  of  the  young  men  started  first 
with  a  few  bulls  and  ponies,  and  the  other  followed 
next  day  with  all  the  beasts  of  burden  he  could  get 
in  the  port  and  brought  the  rest  of  the  treasure  home. 
There  were  certain  lumps  of  silver  called  Sicee  used 
for  larger  sums  of  money  and  these  were  also  of  varying 
size  and  were  valued  by  weight,  counted  in  "taels," 
Chinese  coins  worth  something  more  than  a  half  dollar. 
There  was  also  the  Mexican  dollar  worth  less  than  half 
a  gold  dollar.  So  much  Sicee,  weighing  so  many  "taels," 
so  many  Mexicans  worth  more  or  less  gold;  so  much 


60  Underwood  of  Korea 

"cash"  worth  2500  to  the  dollar  extending  all  the  way 
up  or  down  to  3700  to  the  dollar  to-day,  and  to-morrow, 
who  could  foretell?  Bookkeeping?  Well,  yes.  With  all 
these  uncertain  sorts  of  money  the  young  treasurer  cer- 
tainly had  no  sinecure,  keeping  mission  accounts. 


CHAPTER  III 
MOMENTOUS  BEGINNINGS 

THE  Appenzellers  and  Scrantons  of  the  Methodist 
Mission  had  come  in  shortly  after  Mr.  Under- 
wood in  1885.  The  government  school  teachers, 
Gilmore,  Bunker  and  Hulbert  came  in  June  of  '86. 
The  first  missionaries  of  the  two  missions  had  worked 
and  prayed  together  for  souls.  Mr.  Underwood  often 
told  how,  as  they  met  on  the  first  New  Year's  Eve  in 
a  watch  night  service,  and  prayed  God  to  give  them 
souls  that  very  next  year,  their  faith  almost  staggered 
at  the  presumption  of  their  own  prayer  when  in  nearly 
every  known  mission  field  men  had  waited  at  least  ten 
or  more  years  for  the  first  fruits.  Yet  seven  met  round 
the  communion  table  at  Mr.  Underwood's  house  in 
September  of  '^y  and  each  year  thereafter  the  number 
steadily  multiplied.  They  were  very  careful  about  the 
examination  of  these  converts  and,  as  it  was  supposed 
to  be  at  the  risk  of  life  that  they  professed  the  new 
religion,  men  were  not  very  likely  to  undertake  it  lightly. 
There  is  a  note  in  one  of  the  home  letters  of  Mr.  Hulbert, 
one  of  the  government  school  teachers,  telling  how  early 
in  1887  Mr.  Underwood  had  asked  him  to  keep  the 
door  while  he  baptized  three  converts,  showing  under  how 
much  tension  the  work  was  done  and  how  necessary 
secrecy  was  supposed  to  be  at  that  time,   at  least  in 

61 


62  Underwood  of  Korea 

receiving  new  believers.  As  one  or  two  missionaries 
disapproved  of  going  so  far  as  to  baptize  at  all  as  yet, 
this  division  of  sentiment  made  caution  seem  the  more 
desirable.  A  Mr.  Soh  Sang  Yune,  who  while  in  Man- 
churia had  learned  about  Christianity  from  the  Man- 
churian  missionaries,  Ross  and  Mclntyre,  returned  with 
books  and  the  gospel  message  to  the  village  of  Sorai 
in  the  Yellow  Sea  province,*  and  in  1886  found  his 
way  to  Seoul  and  urged  Mr.  Underwood  to  take  a  trip 
through  the  country,  especially  to  come  to  his  own  vil- 
lage and  baptize  some  of  his  neighbors  who  had  "eaten 
a  believing  mind."  As  noted  before,  three  from  this 
village  were  baptized  in  September  of  '87  and  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year  Mr.  Underwood  made  his  first 
country  trip  in  response  to  this  summons  from  Sorai. 
He  went,  of  course,  on  horseback,  but  walked  part  of 
the  way  and  was  the  first  European  who  had  taken  a  trip 
of  any  length  through  the  interior.  It  is  a  somewhat 
interesting  coincidence  that  as  Mr.  Underwood  was  the 
first  foreigner  to  travel  through  the  country  on  horse- 
back, and  on  foot,  his  wife  was  the  first  woman  to  make 
the  trip  in  a  native  chair;  I  believe,  in  fact,  the  only 
one  who  ever  made  the  whole  distance  from  Seoul  to 
Kang  Kei  and  We  Ju  in  such  a  way,  and  his  son  was 
the  first  man  to  take  an  automobile,  a  Ford,  over  a 
virgin  road  through  Songdo  and  Hai  Ju  to  Sorai.  Mr. 
Foulke,  one  of  the  American  officials,  had  attempted  an 
excursion  in  '84  for  hunting,  but  returned  *'in  great 
danger  of  his  life  and  was  only  rescued  with  much  diffi- 
culty," so  the  official  record  had  it. 

We  Ju,  at  the  very  northern  border,  about  five  hun- 

*  See  "Call  of  Korea,"  pages  107  and  135. 


Momentous  Beginnings  63 

dred  miles  distant,  was  to  be  his  farthest  destination. 
Songdo,  Pyeng  Yang,  Sorai  and  other  places  were  to 
be  visited.  This  trip  was  the  first  of  those  country 
itinerations  which  have  been  such  a  wonderful  means 
of  spreading  the  Gospel  among  the  people  of  the  in- 
terior. It  became  the  regular  custom  of  the  missionaries 
to  go  out  among  the  villages,  spread  the  gospel  story 
and  establish  churches,  but  in  those  days  it  was  thought 
an  adventure  of  the  gravest  nature.  No  foreigners  had 
attempted  such  a  journe}'-  or  dared  dream  of  penetrating 
so  far  among  people  so  dangerously  hostile.  Only  a  man 
with  flaming  missionary  zeal,  one  of  such  unbounded 
faith  and  consecration  that  he  could  be  deterred  by  noth- 
ing, would  have  undertaken  such  a  service.  But  every- 
where the  young  traveler  was  received  with  kindness,  and 
once  when  he  had  lost  his  way  and  with  some  misgiv- 
ings went  up  to  a  farmhouse  to  inquire,  fearing  the  in- 
trusion of  a  stranger  might  be  resented,  he  was  treated 
with  the  greatest  courtesy,  urged  to  enter  and  take  some 
refreshment  and,  in  fact,  made  to  feel  he  was  a  welcome 
guest  from  a  foreign  land.  When  he  reached  Pyeng 
Yang  on  his  return  journey,  both  pony  and  purse  had 
given  out  and  he  was  compelled  to  make  an  appeal  to 
the  Governor  of  the  Province.  This  official  proved  to 
be  a  gentleman  whom  Mr.  Underwood  had  met  in  Seoul, 
and  he  treated  him  with  great  kindness,  urging  him  to 
stay  and  make  him  a  long  visit,  giving  him  the  use  of  the 
best  horse  in  his  stables  and  p^-oviding  him  with  all  the 
money  he  needed. 

On  those  trips  he  never  failed  to  sell  all  the  books  he 
could  carry  and  had  a  hearing  wherever  he  stopped.  At  the 
places  where  he  took  his  noon  meal  and  where  he  spent 


64  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  night,  he  made  a  special  effort  to  preach.  Later  on, 
when  we  traveled  together,  I  often  wondered  at  the 
vigor  and  indefatigability  he  would  show  at  those  times. 
After  a  long  day's  trip,  I  usually  felt  very  tired  and 
sleepy,  and  found  it  hard  to  present  the  Gospel  to  a  lot 
of  rough  peasant  women  who  crowded  close  around 
me  in  the  wildest  curiosity.  It  was  a  distinct  effort  to 
sing  and  show  pictures  and  tell  them  about  a  future, 
and  their  need  of  salvation.  But  he  seemed  as  lively  as 
when  he  started.  He  would  get  the  packs  unloaded  and 
everything  settled  for  the  night,  closely  overseeing  the 
cooking  arrangements  which  he  always  personally  took 
charge  of  in  the  country,  all  the  time  making  jokes,  telling 
stories,  petting  the  children,  saying  pleasant  things  to  the 
housewife  and  the  servants,  and  chumming  up  with  the 
inn  keeper.  Then,  after  lunch  or  supper,  he  would  sit 
down  in  the  men's  sitting  room  with  a  crowd  around  him 
and  talk  with  them  by  the  hour,  or  hold  a  meeting  out 
under  the  stars  at  the  top  of  some  little  hill  or  high  gate- 
way, where  he  would  preach  and  sell  books  without  the 
least  signs  of  weariness,  and  start  on  again  early  the  next 
day  and  so  on  and  on. 

He  got  back  that  year  in  time  for  Thanksgiving  by 
making  a  record  walking  trip,  for  the  horse  could  not 
often  be  trusted  over  icy  roads  especially  at  a  speed  of 
thirty  to  fifty  miles  a  day.  Anniversaries  and  holidays 
always  meant  a  great  deal  to  him.  His  nature  was  social 
and  genial.  He  loved  all  sorts  of  humanity,  took  a 
keen  pleasure  in  social  life.  He  loved  reunions  with  a 
number  of  friends  about  him,  and  getting  back  for  that 
Thanksgiving  meant  much  to  the  lonely  soul.  I  think  it 
was  the  Christmas  of  '86  when  he  gave  his  first  Christ- 


Momentous  Beginnings  65 

mas  dinner.  Thereafter  he  never,  when  in  Korea,  dined 
anywhere  but  at  his  own  home,  usually  asking  all  present 
one  year  to  come  again  the  next.  But  this  first  time,  the 
unfortunate  young  man  had  waited  in  vain  for  the  parlor 
furniture  he  had  ordered  from  England,  as  well  as  for 
supplies  from  China,  but  nothing  came.  It  was  a  very 
bare,  inhospitable  looking  parlor  and  wouldn't  do.  There 
were,  with  the  Methodist  missionaries  and  our  own,  and 
the  American,  English,  Russian  and  Custom  officials, 
quite  a  little  company  who  could  not  well  be  ushered 
into  such  an  empty  room.  But  resources  of  some  sort 
did  not  often  fail  Mr.  Underwood.  There  was  his 
spring  bed;  why  could  not  it  be  made  useful?  So  a 
Korean  cabinet  maker  was  forthwith  called ;  a  chair 
was  borrowed  as  a  pattern;  the  springs  were  torn  from 
his  devoted  couch,  and  placed  in  the  seats  of  three  easy 
chairs  and  two  ottoman  settees,  and  were  soon  covered 
with  Chinese  brocaded  silk,  making  the  room  assume 
a  gala  appearance  quite  worthy  of  Christmas.  Two  of 
these  same  chairs  are  still  treasured  by  the  family  as 
souvenirs  of  that  early  time. 

Mr.  Underwood's  house,  like  all  those  then  and  for 
many  years  occupied  by  missionaries,  was  just  a  native 
bungalow,  with  mud  walls  and  stone  floors  under 
which  ran  flues  which  conveyed  both  the  smoke  and  the 
heat  under  the  rooms  from  fires  built  close  outside  the 
wall,  thus  heating  them  evenly  and  economically.  The 
ceiling  was  low,  not  more  than  eight  or  nine  feet  from 
the  floor,  with  low  French  windows.  But  the  roof  or 
great  center  beam  in  his  house  lay  about  fifteen  feet 
high.  The  roof,  which  was  very  heavy,  was  supported 
by  very  large  beams  of  wood  which  were  greatly  hard- 


66  Underwood  of  Korea 

ened  by  age.  The  house  was  about  300  years  old  and 
there  were  not  only  in  the  walls  and  in  the  door  frames, 
but  sometimes  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  big  supporting 
pillars  called  ketungs,  to  bear  the  weight.  Over  the 
roof-beams  were  laid  rafters,  and  over  these  sticks  with 
mud,  much  mud,  and  lastly  tiles.  Mud  was  neatly 
plastered  on  the  ceiling  over  the  sticks  and  no  heat  from 
the  hottest  summer  sun  could  ever  penetrate  those  roofs, 
though  the  rain  could.  No  matter  how  often  one  may 
call  the  roof  menders  to  replace  broken  tiles  and  patch 
up  suspicious  places,  when  the  rainy  season  comes  and 
the  fearful  floods  beat  upon  those  houses,  the  water 
streams  in  under  the  tiles,  and,  when  it  has  dripped 
awhile,  down  comes  a  lump  of  mud  here,  and  another 
there.  It  certainly  is  aggravating  to  a  high  degree.  The 
water  flows  cheerfully  down  your  nice  wallpaper,  avoid- 
ing the  buckets  you  set  for  it,  meandering  over  your 
floor  from  which  you  have  hurriedly  removed  the  rugs, 
and,  well,  it  is  moist  and  to  say  the  least,  unpleasant. 
But  at  Christmas  time  these  houses  decorate  wonder- 
fully. The  great  rafters  were  picturesque  beyond  descrip- 
tion when  trimmed  with  boughs  of  evergreen  mingled 
with  holly  and  mistletoe,  both  of  which  are  abundant  in 
Korea.  There  were  big  fireplaces,  too,  in  his  house; 
the  first  one  built  in  with  his  own  hands.  The  cheery 
blaze  and  crackle  of  such  a  fire  helped  to  add  to  the 
charm  of  the  holiday  scene.  I  think  from  his  very  first 
Christmas  there,  or  at  least  the  second,  he  always  had  a 
party  for  the  foreign  children,  for  though  there  were 
only  a  few  at  first,  theie  always  were  some.  He  was 
all  his  life  passionately  fond  of  children  and  few  amuse- 
ments seemed  to  give  him  more  pleasure  than  a  children's 


Momentous  Beginnings  67 

party  or  picnic.  He  would  sit  on  the  floor  shouting 
"Cobbler,  cobbler,  mend  my  shoe ;  get  it  done  by  half  past 
two,"  or  "March  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem,'*  with  all  the 
zest  of  a  boy  of  six. 

Whether  it  was  overwork  or  loneliness  or  climate, 
early  in  1887  he  became  quite  seriously  ill  and  could 
not  eat  anything.  His  old  Korean  teacher,  greatly  con- 
cerned, suggested  that  he  try  a  change  and  take  only 
the  best  Korean  food  for  a  time.  Korean  food  for  a  gen- 
tleman would  be  rice,  much  rice  with  Kimchee  (a  sort 
of  sauerkraut  made  of  cabbage,  turnips,  red  peppers,  a 
few  onions  with  perhaps  some  shreds  of  fish,  all  salted 
down  together  in  great  stone  jars  which  stand  outdoors 
all  winter).  There  is  a  soup,  called  Kuksu,  made  with 
beef,  thick  with  vermicelli  and  hot  with  peppers.  There 
are  hard  boiled  eggs,  oranges,  nuts,  small  sHces  of  meat 
and  fish  eaten  with  a  very  hot  sauce  much  like  Wor- 
cestershire. There  is  3  kind  of  very  heavy,  unleavened 
rice  bread,  more  like  India  rubber  than  food,  neither 
salted  nor  buttered.  There  are  a  kind  of  fruit  cake,  richer 
by  far  than  ours,  honey  to  eat  with  one's  bread,  persim- 
mons, fresh  or  dried,  and  various  other  possible  addi- 
tions, but  the  rice,  the  Kimchee  and  the  Kuksu  are  the 
main  standbys. 

But  though  he  seemed  rather  better  for  awhile,  the 
radical  change  in  diet  proved  a  failure  after  a  few 
days.  At  length  the  little  mission  met  together,  com- 
prising, as  it  then  did,  three  doctors  and  the  wives  of 
two,  and  decided  unanimously  that  Mr.  Underwood  must 
take  a  trip  at  once  to  T^ipan.  He  had  not  voted  on  the 
question  at  all  himself  but  from  what  we  who  have 
known  him  so  well  for  years  know,  he  could  never  have 


68  Underwood  of  Korea 

been  induced  by  twenty  missions  to  stir  from  his  post, 
had  it  not  seemed  a  matter  of  necessity.  At  any  rate, 
the  sea  trip,  though  only  four  or  five  days  round  to 
Yokohama,  and  the  complete  change,  quickly  worked 
wonders,  for  his  magnificent  constitution  always  re- 
bounded with  great  rapidity.  So  he  didn't  look  very 
much  the  invalid  a  few  days  after  reaching  Yokohama, 
and  one  of  those  meddlesome  persons  who  are  only  too 
often  found  in  all  communities,  took  the  trouble  to  write 
to  the  Board  in  New  York  that  Mr.  Underwood,  being 
Mission  Treasurer,  on  an  empty  excuse  of  ill  health,  was 
using  Mission  money  for  a  vacation  in  Japan.  Unfor- 
tunately the  letters  informing  the  Board  of  the  Mission 
action  had  been  delayed,  and  also  unfortunately,  the 
good  Secretary  then  in  office,  did  not  wait  to  verify  this 
tale  and  wrote  a  very  severe  reprimand  ordering  Mr. 
Underwood  to  repay  to  the  Board  the  money  so  mis- 
appropriated. It  can  easily  be  understood  how  a  letter  of 
this  sort  would  wound  any  honest  man,  much  more  one 
who  always  lived  up  to  high  ideals  of  sacrifice  for  the 
cause.  He  at  once  sent  his  resignation  and  with  it  an 
indignant  letter  to  the  Secretary  who  could  make  such 
a  charge  with  so  little  proof.  When  the  facts  were 
understood  in  New  York,  the  charge  was  withdrawn, 
his  resignation  was  refused  and  a  kind  letter  of  explana- 
tion was  written.  I  do  not  remember  any  other  occasion 
in  his  whole  life  when  he  felt  called  upon  to  write  or 
speak  so  indignantly.  He  spent  only  a  short  time  in  Japan, 
most  of  which  was  occupied  in  evangelistic  work  in  the 
hospitals  and  among  the  American  and  European  sailors. 
He  had  taken  the  gospel  of  Mark  over  to  be  published 
and  it  was  ready  for  use  in  1887. 


Momentous  Beginnings  69 

His  second  trip  to  the  interior  and  the  north,  was  taken 
in  the  spring  of  1888,  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  writer. 
He  started  out  with  Mr.  Appenzeller  in  April  and  both 
found  most  encouraging  signs  of  fruitage  from  the  seed 
sown  and  the  work  done  by  their  new  helpers.  A  little 
incident  occurred  on  this  trip  rather  illustrative  of  the 
people  and  their  customs  and  of  the  character  of  the 
pioneer  missionary.  As  he  sat  in  a  Korean  guest-room 
in  a  village  late  one  evening,  a  farmer,  rather  shabby 
and  dirty,  his  garments  stained  with  many  days'  usage, 
came  hurrying  in  with  a  face  beaming  with  satisfaction, 
exclaiming  that  he  had  something  for  the  Moksa*  which 
he  knew  he  would  like,  whereupon,  reaching  far  up  his 
arm  within  his  capacious  sleeve,  he  finally  succeeded 
in  extracting  therefrom  a  huge  pancake — "flapjack" 
they  are  sometimes  called  in  America — in  which  were 
neatly  wrapped  some  cold  boiled  potatoes.  The  radiant 
air  of  triumph  with  which  he  displayed  and  presented 
this  culinary  chef  d'oeuvre  to  the  unhappy  recipient  can- 
not be  described.  The  crowd  looked  on  sympathetically 
or  envyingly.  Would  that  they  had  been  so  happy  as 
to  have  secured  potatoes  for  the  friend  who  had  come 
so  far  to  bring  them  salvation!  For  potatoes,  strange 
to  say,  were  the  favorite  food  of  these  foreigners.  Mr. 
Underwood  had  a  very  delicate,  sensitive  and  rebellious 
stomach,  his  lifelong  enemy,  but  had,  too,  an  iron  will ; 
so  he  with  apparent  gratitude  ate  those  potatoes  and  that 
pancake  and,  what  was  more,  kept  them  down,  thanking 
his  thoughtful  friend  for  his  gift.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  Sorai  beach  was  discovered  and  even  then  with  his 
usual  prevision,  Mr.  Underwood  saw  the  future  summer 

*  Pastor. 


70  Underwood  of  Korea 

resort  for  weary  missionaries  and  the  blessing  that  was 
lying  there,  almost  for  the  taking,  for  fellow- workers  of 
years  to  come. 

To  return,  however;  in  the  midst  of  their  work  while 
in  Pyeng  Yang,  where  they  found  twenty-five  eager  for 
baptism  and  the  interest  intense  and  growing,  they  were 
suddenly  summoned  back  to  Seoul  by  both  the  Mission 
and  the  U.  S.  Minister.  The  Jesuits  had  selected  a 
very  high  site  for  their  cathedral,  overlooking  the  palace, 
and  near  a  shrine,  having  bought  it  secretly  through  a 
Korean.  They  proceeded  to  build,  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
tests and  entreaties  of  the  government  made  to  the 
French  representatives  and  to  the  leaders  of  that  church. 
This  brought  about  such  intense  indignation  in  high 
Korean  circles  that  an  edict  was  issued  forbidding  the 
preaching  and  teaching  of  Christianity  in  Korea.  Nat- 
urally our  young  missionaries  in  the  country  were 
ordered  home  at  once  and  all  religious  services  of  every 
kind  were  stopped  in  the  schools  and  little  meeting  places. 

Mr.  Appenzeller  and  Mr.  Underwood  were  both  highly 
displeased  at  their  recall,  holding  that  the  edict  was  only 
directed  against  the  Romanists  and  that  they  had  been 
needlessly  interrupted  in  the  Lord's  work.  The  foreign 
community  on  the  other  hand  were  in  one  of  those 
critical  fits  of  hysteria  into  which  they  habitually  fluttered 
at  the  least  sign  of  anything  unusual.  Some  of  them 
insisted  that  it  was  nothing  but  this  reckless  trip  to  the 
country  which  had  caused  all  the  trouble;  that  mission- 
aries should  only  employ  themselves  in  medical  and  edu- 
cational work  without  meddling  with  the  Gospel,  thus 
risking  the  important  existence  of  officials  and  others,  and 
getting  themselves  into  hot  water.    It  must  be  remembered 


Momentous  Beginnings  71 

in  excuse  that  there  had  been  massacres  in  China  over 
provocations  similar  to  the  Jesuit  site  affair,  and  that  offi- 
cials, business  men,  customs  officers,  and  the  like,  don't 
go  to  the  East  with  any  intention  of  becoming  martyrs 
if  they  can  help  it,  and  are  continually  on  the  qui  vive 
with  suspicion  and  anxiety,  especially  in  a  new  country, 
as  to  what  those  troublesome  missionaries  will  do  next. 
All  the  missionaries  but  Mr.  AppenzeUer  and  Mr.  Under- 
wood had  stopped  all  rehgious  work  and  worship  on  the 
issuance  of  the  edict,  but  they,  being  much  alike  in  many 
respects,  immediately  began  religious  services  in  their 
two  boys'  schools  and  in  their  homes,  singing  hymns 
lustily  enough,  with  the  aid  of  the  natives,  to  be  heard 
nearly  a  mile  away.  Mr.  Underwood  had  been  nick- 
named in  the  seminary,  "the  roaring  Methodist."  Cer- 
tainly any  native  official  who  had  anything  against  our 
mission  would  have  had  no  trouble  in  convicting  us  of 
breaking  the  law.  At  the  time  I  most  enthusiastically 
upheld  their  cause,  but  there  is  no  doubt  had  the  gov- 
ernment been  other  than  Korean,  had  we  Americans 
been  other  than  spoiled  darlings  of  the  court,  or  had 
the  whole  offense  not  been  undoubtedly  on  the  part  of 
the  Jesuits,  our  young  men  and  their  followers  would 
have  been  almost  certain  to  come  to  grief,  deep  grief. 
However,  they  probably  would  not  have  desisted  even 
had  they  known  that  trouble  would  follow. 

As  it  was,  only  a  few  days  after  his  return  from 
this  mischief -making  country  trip,  Mr.  Underwood  was 
formally  visited  by  several  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  cabinet  who  begged  him  to  take  permanent  charge 
of  their  government  school.  The  teachers,  who  had 
come  out  from  America,  were  dissatisfied  and  had  re- 


72  Underwood  of  Korea 

signed,  and  this  school,  filled  with  young  men  of  th€ 
best  Korean  families,  was  offered  to  this  young  mis- 
sionary to  be  in  his  full  control  and  charge,  at  whatever 
salary  he  might  choose  to  name.  It  seems  incredible 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  foreigners,  or  of  conditions 
of  the  present  day.  Mr.  Underwood  informed  them  at 
once  that  he  could  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  school 
unless  he  could  teach  Christianity  in  connection  with 
it.  The  rule  had  been  that  not  even  the  name  of  God 
must  be  mentioned  if  it  occurred  in  the  school  books; 
but  the  proposition  was  granted  without  a  murmur,  and 
they  begged  for  a  reply  at  once.  It  was  a  great  temp- 
tation and  he  put  them  off  for  a  few  days'  considera- 
tion, but  he  feared,  if  undertaken  in  the  right  way,  a 
school  of  that  kind  would  interfere  too  much,  if  not 
altogether,  with  his  evangelistic  and  translating  work, 
and  would  probably  necessitate  his  leaving  his  Mission 
and  laboring  independently.  He  also  thought  that  if  he 
did  not  accept,  his  friends,  the  former  teachers,  might  be 
recalled  at  higher  salaries,  and  with  more  privileges, 
which  proved  to  be  the  case,  so  in  loyalty  to  his  work, 
his  Mission,  and  his  friends,  he  refused  the  offer. 

The  difference  in  opinion  with  regard  to  the  holding 
of  religious  exercises  after  the  edict,  caused  much  irrita- 
tion and  feeling  among  the  workers  of  both  missions. 
Both  were  conscientiously  striving  to  do  right ;  one  party 
believed  that  by  yielding  they  would  at  least  retain  their 
foothold  on  the  field:  while  another  course  might  lead 
to  their  speedy  expulsion  if  nothing  worse.  The  other 
party  felt  even  in  the  risk  of  life  itself,  God's  commands 
and  his  service  must  be  regarded  first.  A  Methodist 
Bishop  and  a  Presbyterian  Board  Secretary,  happening 


Momentous  Beginnings  73 

along  at  that  time,  both  in  turn  were  hurried  around 
to  the  different  legations  where  they  drank  deep  of  the 
very  strong  worldly  wisdom  of  excited  officials.  How- 
ever, they  both  most  unequivocally  sided  with  the  two 
young  clericals,  and  no  complaints  came  from  the  gov- 
ernment. Though  our  young  congregations  led  by  ine 
stentorian  voices  of  Mr.  Appenzeller  and  Mr,  Underwood, 
continued  to  shout  ''Nothing  but  the  blood  of  Jesus,"  and 
other  hymns  until  the  welkin  rang,  nobody  was  arrested, 
not  even  the  humblest  native  believer,  and  the  workers 
went  back  to  gospel  teaching,  preaching  and  worship. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  the  stand  taken  at  that  time 
by  Messrs.  Appenzeller  and  Underwood  was  similar  to 
that  taken  very  recently  by  some  of  our  Christian 
school  superintendents  with  regard  to  Japanese  laws 
lately  put  in  force  in  Korea.  But  Dr.  Underwood  con- 
sidered that  there  is  a  great  difference.  That  rule  was 
against  religious  teaching  of  every  kind  and  in  any 
place  whatever,  and  practically  forbade  the  worship  of 
God  according  to  a  man's  conscience,  under  any  condi- 
tions. It  was,  moreover,  evidently  only  an  act  of  re- 
taliation against  pne  denomination  which  had  offended. 
The  rules  to-day  in  force  in  Korea  are  those  under  which 
conscientious  missionaries  have  worked  for  years  in 
Japan.  As  interpreted  by  the  government  in  Korea, 
there  is  really  more  latitude  given  us,  for  the  rule  not 
to  include  worship  as  part  of  the  curriculum,  allows  us 
to  carry  on  our  worship  and  teaching — only  not  as  part 
of  the  regular  published  curriculum — and  we  are  allowed 
special  religious  schools,  with  no  restrictions  whatever. 
Dr.  Underwood  believed  he  was  not  inconsistent  or 
illogical  in  his  ultimate  position.     Although  in  1888  he 


74  Underwood  of  Korea 

had  openly  disobeyed  the  edict,  in  191 5  he  had  favored 
our  doing  the  best  we  could  in  obedience  to  the  govern- 
ment regulation — not  altogether  restrictive — rather  than 
close  our  schools  and  send  our  boys  and  girls  adrift  amidst 
what  evil  influences  we  could  not  predict. 

The  conditions  were  different,  the  rules  were  differ- 
ent, and  the  government  very  different.  The  frictions 
engendered,  however,  over  this  question  of  worship  in 
those  early  days,  were  not  readily  or  quickly  smoothed 
over  and  forgotten.  Most  unfortunately  they  seemed 
rather  to  grow,  and  though  nothing  really  passed  between 
the  families,  unworthy  in  itself  of  Christians,  or  which 
was  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  work,  there  was  still 
enough  feeling  to  cause  unhappiness,  some  estrangement 
and  distrust. 

Messrs.  Appenzeller  and  Underwood  had  returned 
from  the  country  late  in  the  spring — I  think  in  May — and 
early  in  July  there  threatened  to  be  a  very  serious  and 
general  disturbance  in  the  city  and  its  suburbs,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  famous  "Baby  Riots"  which  had  taken 
place  in  China  some  years  before.  There  was  little  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  acquainted  with  court 
matters  at  the  time  that  the  whole  trouble  was  deliber- 
ately worked  up  by  enemies  of  the  Queen,  to  encompass 
her  ruin.  The  Queen  favored  progress  and  foreigners — 
those  riots  were  aimed  against  foreigners.  The  Tai  Won 
Kun  was  the  Regent  who  had  ruled  during  the  King's 
minority,  and,  reluctant  to  yield  the  reins  of  government, 
had  still  kept  the  charge  of  affairs  long  past  the  time 
when  he  should  have  given  it  over  to  his  son.  But  the 
King  was  gentle  and  hesitated  to  force  his  father  to 
resign.     Every   rule   and  practice   of   Oriental   religion 


Momentous  Beginnings  75 

would  forbid  a  son  to  show  disrespect  for  his  father.  The 
Queen,  however,  was  of  very  different  calibre — ^bril- 
liant, forceful,  and  daring,  she  was  not  willing  that  the 
rightful  king  should  be  thus  pushed  aside  to  become  a 
mere  nonentity,  and  by  a  sudden  coup  d'etat  the  old 
Regent,  to  his  amazement  and  rage,  found  himself  dis- 
placed and  the  King  on  the  throne.  From  that  day  he 
never  ceased  to  meditate  revenge,  and  many  were  his 
plots  to  destroy  the  Queen  and  her  family.  One  of 
these  resulted  in  the  emeute  of  '84,  when  she  was  car- 
ried across  the  city  in  the  disguise  of  a  peasant  woman. 
One,  the  last,  resulted  in  her  assassination  in  the  palace 
in  1895.  Perhaps  the  Tai  Won  Kun  considered  her 
conduct  ungrateful  and  heinous,  because  he  himself  had 
chosen  her  for  the  King's  bride,  probably  fancying  she 
would  always  be  at  his  bidding.  It  perhaps  should  be 
explained  that  the  King  was  the  son  of  a  previous  Queen 
by  adoption,  so  that  his  father  had  no  claim  whatever 
to  the  throne.  But  to  return  to  our  riots,  one  of  the 
first  men  attacked,  pulled  from  his  carrying-chair,  and 
almost  killed  in  the  midst  of  his  own  followers  and 
henchmen,  was  one  of  the  King's  favorites.  The  hos- 
pital, the  pet  institution  at  that  time  of  both  King  and 
Queen,  was  especially  charged  with  being  the  center  of 
black  crime,  and  it  was  rumored  that  there  babies'  hearts 
and  eyes  were  cut  out,  to  furnish  the  chief  delicacy  among 
the  viands  at  foreign  official  and  missionary  tables. 

There  was  great  excitement — one  man  who  was  in- 
nocently carrying  his  own  child  home  was  killed  for 
supposedly  stealing  a  baby.  Angry  crowds  hung  around 
the  hospital.  My  chair  coolies  were  threatened  with 
death  if  they  took  me  to  the  hospital  again.     I  strongly 


76  Underwood  of  Korea 

suspect  I  was  very  silly  in  insisting  on  going  there  on 
horseback  next  day,  but  I  was  new  to  the  East  and,  at 
least  in  experience,  very  young.  Mr.  Underwood  did  not 
let  me  go  alone,  and  attended  me.  However,  no  harm 
came  of  it  and  perhaps  our  coolness  had  something 
to  do  with  leading  them  to  think  we  had  some  magic 
which  it  would  be  dangerous  to  contend  with.  An  army 
of  ten  thousand  Tonghaks  from  similar  superstition 
gave  up  an  attack  on  a  little  village  in  the  country 
where  a  missionary  resided,  who,  they  were  told,  pulled 
his  gun  to  pieces  when  he  heard  they  were  coming. 
They  were  frightened  and  overawed!  They  dared  not 
face  a  necromancer  like  that.  However,  in  our  "Baby 
Riots"  the  most  excited  people  of  all  were  in  the  foreign 
community,  many  of  whom  would  not  hesitate  to  ascribe 
the  whole  trouble  to  those  missionaries  who  went  to 
the  country  and  then  disobeyed  the  edict.  Troops  were 
called  up  from  the  port  to  all  the  legations;  ships  hur- 
ried to  Chemulpo;  people  were  to  be  in  readiness  to 
rush  to  the  legations  at  the  first  signal,  and  many  packed 
their  valuables,  ready  to  flee  to  the  port.  I  suppose 
some  of  us  didn't  know  enough  to  be  afraid.  Really, 
after  what  had  happened  in  China,  there  was  reason  to 
be  prepared  for  possible  serious  trouble,  but  we  had 
ridden  all  around  and  through  the  city  on  horseback  the 
very  day  the  rumor  told  of  the  greatest  trouble,  and 
everything  seemed  so  quiet — people  going  about  their 
business  in  the  usual  way,  no  missiles  thrown,  and  only 
one  or  two  scowling  faces  seen,  that  one  could  not 
believe  there  was  much  real  trouble,  and  we  still  think 
it  was  simply  stirred  up,  and  mostly  on  the  surface. 
But  on  that  one  night,  when  mobs  were  expected  to 


Momentous  Beginnings  77 

attack  our  legations,  as  fate  would  have  it,  there  was  a 
big  fire  in  another  quarter  of  the  city,  and  the  usual 
outcry  with  beating  drums  to  drive  off  spirits,  pulling 
down  of  houses,  and  rushing  together  of  crowds  took 
place — then  everybody  was  sure  that  was  the  beginning 
of  the  end  for  us.  But  the  fire  went  out  and  we  went 
quietly  to  bed  and  knew  no  harm,  for  God  was  *round 
about  us  and  our  time  had  not  yet  come.  People  on 
the  streets  found  that  speedy  arrest  followed  any  dis- 
cussion of  baby  eating,  and  indeed  no  two  were  allowed 
to  stand  and  talk  in  any  public  place,  so  the  whole  affair 
was  soon  well  under  control. 

Mr,  Underwood  spent  the  whole  of  that  hot,  unhealthy 
summer,  not  in  his  own  home,  but  in  a  poor  little  hut 
in  the  center  of  the  city  where  our  mission  owned  a  site 
on  which  he  was  erecting  what  he  hoped  would  be  our 
future  boys'  school.  There  were  no  good  builders  or 
carpenters  at  that  time  on  whom  we  could  depend. 
Every  step  of  the  work  must  be  carefully  watched,  and 
even  during  a  morning's  absence  something  important 
was  likely  to  go  so  very  wrong  that  it  would  have  to 
be  all  pulled  down  and  done  over,  with  delay,  expense, 
and  perhaps  sulking  and  strikes  on  the  part  of  the 
coolies.  One  of  the  Methodists,  finding  his  roofmen 
were  striking,  and  that  no  others  dared  to  take  their 
place,  simply  climbed  up  and  laid  his  own  tiles,  and  no 
thanks  to  anybody, — to  the  great  edification  of  the  natives, 
to  whom  it  was  a  new  thing  to  see  learned  men,  teachers, 
gentlemen,  working  at  manual  labor — coolie  work.  We 
have  made  it  a  point,  in  fact,  to  teach  them  the  dignity 
of  labor.  Similar  incidents  to  that  just  related  often 
happened.     Missionaries  must  know  how  to  make  good 


78  Underwood  of  Korea 

roads,  build  walls  and  houses,  plan  and  care  for  vege- 
tables and  fruit  trees,  kill  and  cut  up  beef — if  they 
want  to  eat  anything  but  fowl  and  fish — as  well  as  preach, 
teach,  use  the  typewriter,  write  books  and  sermons,  and 
walk  miles  in  the  country.  A  missionary  in  a  new  coun- 
try, especially  in  the  interior  of  a  new  one,  needs  to 
be  jack-of -all-trades,  and  nothing,  absolutely  nothing  he 
has  ever  learned  will  come  amiss.  Now  in  these  later 
days,  especially  in  the  Capital,  we  do  not  need  to  do 
much  more  than  we  should  in  New  York  or  London. 
But  Mr.  Underwood  toiled  all  that  summer  in  a  filthy, 
city,  with  its  sewers  full  of  terrible  things,  with  fearsome 
smells  contaminating  the  air,  where  the  town  lies  like  a 
basin,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  its  circle  of  hills,  steam- 
ing up  unspeakable  vapors  and  odors  to  the  offended 
heavens,  until  the  mercy  of  God  sends  floods  of  rain  and 
washes  the  poison  away.  Why  the  young  man  did  not  die 
on  the  spot,  how  anybody  ever  lived  through  a  summer  in 
that  city  as  it  then  was,  is  a  problem  beyond  the  power  of 
man  to  solve,  unless  God  has  ordained  that  nobody  shall 
die  until  his  time  comes.  No  doubt  Mr.  Underwood  could 
not  die  then  because  God  had  a  work  for  him  to  do. 
He  had  a  theory,  taught  by  his  father,  the  indomitable, 
that  one  is  always  safe  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  he  cer- 
tainly worked  on  that  belief  all  his  life.  While  over- 
seeing the  building  of  the  school,  he  was  also  working 
on  the  dictionary  and  language  helps,  doing  evangelistic 
work,  and  advertising  the  Gospel  in  every  way,  and  at 
every  place  possible. 

Several  times  during  the  spring  and  summer  we  were 
invited  to  attend  the  entertainments,  dinners  or  luncheons 
given  at  the  palace  or  by  the  high  Korean  officials  of 


Momentous  Beginnings  79 

the  Foreign  Office,  the  Court  showing  in  every  way  the 
greatest  kindness  to  our  mission.  This  attitude  was 
mainly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  great  service  done  by  Dr. 
Allen  to  Prince  Min  and  to  the  much-talked-of  skill  ex- 
hibited by  him  and  his  successor,  Dr.  Heron,  at  the  new 
hospital ;  but  it  proved  that  our  disregard  of  the  edict  had 
caused  no  displeasure. 


CHAPTER  IV 
A  MEMORABLE  JOURNEY 

THE  writer  had  arrived  in  Korea  in  the  spring  of 
1888.  In  the  fall  came  the  future  Mrs.  Gifford 
(Miss  Hayden)  and  a  new  doctor,  and  in 
December,  Mr.  Gifford,  Dr.  Gale  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harkness. 

That  fall  of  1888,  Mr.  Underwood  and  the  writer 
became  engaged.  He  had  been  engaged  before  leaving 
America,  but  the  young  woman  had  neither  the  interest 
in  missions  nor  the  regard  for  her  intended  husband, 
nor  the  vision  of  the  great,  inspiring  Hfe  of  the  widest 
interest,  which  would  have  led  her  to  face  the  adorable 
hardships  of  a  pioneer  foreign  missionary  life,  so  she 
refused  to  go  with  him. 

I  only  mention  the  fact  here,  becaiise  I  have  known 
of  several  other  missionaries  who  were  treated  in  a 
similar  fashion,  and  would  urge  upon  all  the  girls  who 
may  feel  so  inclined,  to  do  likewise  by  all  means.  If 
you  have  no  desire  to  make  a  sacrifice  for  Christ's  sake, 
if  there  is  no  fascination  for  you  in  risks,  dangers, 
hardships,  death  even,  for  such  a  glorious  cause  and 
glorious  Master,  or  if  you  do  not  care  enough  for  the 
man  you  should  take  for  worse  as  well  as  for  better, 
to  share  anything,  anything,  with  him,  to  follow  him 

80 


A  Memorable  Journey  81 

to  the  world's  end  and  beyond  it,  throw  him  over;  the 
sooner,  the  better;  he  will  have  the  greatest  cause  to 
thank  God  for  it  in  days  to  come. 

As  I  was  already  on  the  field  before  I  ever  saw  Mr. 
Underwood,  I  had  no  sacrifice  to  make  in  accepting  him : 
quite  the  contrary. 

In  December,  during  the  school  vacation,  Mr.  Under- 
wood took  the  only  hunting  trip  I  have  ever  known  him 
to  indulge  in.  He  was  greatly  tired  by  his  close  and  con- 
stant devotion  to  his  work,  and  the  president  of  the 
Foreign  Ofiice,  in  much  concern  for  his  friend,  arranged 
a  week's  hunting  in  the  country  near  Seoul:  he  would 
provide  the  place  of  entertainment,  arrange  for  beaters 
and  everything  necessary,  and  Mr.  Underwood  should 
have  a  little  change  of  scene  and  exercise  in  the  fine,  fresh 
country  air.  He  was  told  to  invite  his  friends,  so  Messrs. 
Scranton,  Bunker  and  Hulbert  went  with  him. 

The  hunt  did  not  yield  much  in  the  quantity  of  game — 
one  duck,  I  believe — but  the  party  of  friends  meant 
more  to  Mr.  Underwood  than  all  the  game  in  creation. 
The  exercise  and  change  were,  indeed,  invaluable. 
Often,  as  these  old  cronies  would  get  together  in  later 
years,  I  have  heard  them  recall,  with  roars  of  laughter, 
how  Bunker  and  Hulbert  set  the  house  on  fire  by  mis- 
taking a  Korean  candle-chimney  for  a  fireplace,  and 
how  Hulbert  scalded  Scranton  with  the  boiling  water 
he  seized  from  the  kitchen  to  extinguish  the  conflagra- 
tion; also  how  Mr.  Underwood's  coat  became  ignited 
from  a  Japanese  kairo  (handwarmer)  in  his  pocket  while 
riding  and,  going  on  like  a  veritable  chimney  with  clouds 
of  smoke  drifting  behind,  he  had  to  be  shouted  at  re- 
peatedly before  he  discerned  his  plight.     But,  more  than 


82  Underwood  of  Korea 

all,  the  memory  of  their  one  poor  duck  served  to  enliven 
various  dinners  through  many  years  to  come. 

In  March,  1889,  Mr.  Underwood  and  the  writer  were 
married.  The  tale  of  this  wedding  and  of  the  guests  rep- 
resentative of  the  Court,  sent  by  their  Majesties,  the 
generous  gifts  bestowed  by  royalty,  and  the  opposi- 
tion of  missionaries  in  the  whole  foreign  community  to 
the  going  of  the  writer  to  the  interior,  has  been  already 
told  with  some  detail  and  is  hardly  worthy  a  repetition 
or  even  a  notice,  except  that  it  showed  how  absolutely 
unmovable  Mr.  Underwood  was  when  once  he  deter- 
mined on  a  course  which  he  believed  to  be  right. 

As  for  any  danger,  he  had  traversed  the  distance  to 
Korea's  northern  borders  twice;  had  met  nothing  but 
good  will,  kindness  and  gentleness,  and  he  had  great 
faith  that  God  would  guard  and  protect  us  through  any 
difficulties  that  might  arise. 

In  addition  to  the  passport  given  by  our  American 
official,  we  went  with  a  very  generous  passport  from 
the  Korean  Government,  directing  that  pack-ponies, 
money,  sleeping  accommodations  at  the  magistracies,  and 
anything  we  might  require  be  provided  by  local  officials, 
bills,  of  course,  to  be  paid  by  us  later  in  Seoul. 

We  visited  Song  Do,  Pyeng  Yang,  Kang  Kei  and  We 
Ju  at  the  northern  border,  and  found  considerable  in- 
terest in  Christianity  awakened,  but  many  who  under- 
stood only  imperfectly  what  they  were  undertaking; 
some  who  hoped  for  employment  or  some  sort  of  gain; 
others  who  supposed  this  a  new  philosophy;  but  there 
were  some  true  believers,  whom  it  was  a  joy  to  meet 
and  welcome.  We  met  with  few  adventures.  There 
were  crowds  of  eager  sightseers,  often  persistent  and 


A  Memorable  Journey  83 

rude;  and  some  reluctant  anti-foreign  magistrates  who 
did  not  wish  to  give  us  shelter  from  rough  crowds  and 
who  had  to  have  the  law  laid  down  to  them  in  a  forceful 
way  by  a  determined  young  American. 

We  crossed  a  tiger-haunted  pass  at  night;  there  was 
one  band  of  robbers  who  were  betrayed  by  a  drunken 
companion,  another  band  from  whose  hands  we  were 
barely  delivered,  and  an  intoxicated  Governor  who  mis- 
laid our  passport  and  beat  our  servants.  Still  God's  care 
saw  us  through  every  threatened  danger  and  brought  us 
safely  home. 

One  incident  of  this  trip  seems  worth  quoting  from 
"Fifteen  Years  Among  the  Top-Knots,"  because  it  shows 
a  little  what  manner  of  man  Mr.  Underwood  was,  and 
also  gives  us  a  picture  of  several  types  of  Koreans.  I 
am  quoting  because,  when  that  book  was  written  about 
eighteen  years  ago,  the  whole  affair  was  much  more 
clearly  in  my  mind  than  now  and  Mr.  Underwood  was 
at  hand  to  verify  and  correct  when  I  was  at  a  loss. 

"We  had  divided  our  party  coming  from  the  moun- 
tains, Mr.  Underwood,  our  soldier  and  myself  hurrying 
on  to  order  luncheon  at  the  inn,  leaving  helpers  and 
constable  with  the  pack-ponies  and  grooms  to  follow. 
When  word  was  brought  that  our  loads  were  coming, 
my  husband  slipped  a  small  revolver  from  our  traveling- 
bag  into  his  pocket ;  he  told  us  some  rough  fellows  were 
coming  with  the  party  and  there  might  be  trouble. 

"It  seems  that,  as  soon  as  we  were  separated,  a  number 
of  men  had  overtaken  our  loads  and  charged  one  of 
the  mapoos  (grooms)  with  theft,  saying  they  had  come 
to  reclaim  stolen  property;  they  had  bound  his  hands, 
taken  possession  of  our  ponies  and  load  and  followed 


84  Underwood  of  Korea 

us  to  the  inn.  I  peeped  through  a  crack  where  the  door 
stood  ajar,  and  saw  what  was  not  reassurmg:  a  party 
of  twenty  or  thirty  country  fellows,  wilder  and  ruder 
looking  than  any  I  had  yet  seen,  their  hair  falling  in 
matted  locks  around  their  evil  faces,  instead  of  being 
fastened  in  the  usual  rough  top-knot,  and  their  angry 
eyes  fierce  and  blood-shot.  Each  carried  a  short,  stout 
club  and  they  were  all  shouting  in  angry  tones  at  once, 
while  our  mapoo,  his  hands  bound,  my  husband,  the 
constable,  soldier  and  helper  stood  defenseless  in  the 
midst  of  this  wild  throng.  The  tiny  place  seemed  filled 
with  the  men  and  the  hubbub,  while  the  frightened  vil- 
lagers peeped  in  at  the  gate  or  over  the  wall.  Our 
chair-coolies  had  hidden  away,  for  which  later  we  were 
very  thankful. 

"The  attacking  party,  with  loud  and  angry  voices,  ac- 
cused our  mapoo  of  having  stolen  their  money,  a  hat 
and  a  bowl  and,  when  asked  for  evidence,  pointed  to 
the  man's  shabby  old  hat  then  on  his  head,  to  a  rice- 
bowl  placed  on  top  of  the  packs  and  to  our  own  large 
and  heavy  bundle  of  cash,  fastened  and  sealed  just  as 
we  saw  it  placed  on  the  pony's  back  in  the  morning. 
They  refused  to  release  the  mapoo  unless  these  things 
were  given  up.  Mr.  Underwood  told  them  that  the  hat 
and  money  were  ours,  but  that  he  would  go  with  them 
before  a  Korean  magistrate  and  leave  the  whole  matter 
to  his  decision,  only  they  must  unbind  the  mapoo.  This 
they  would  not  consider  and  continued  to  insist  on  our 
giving  them  the  money.  Mr.  Underwood  absolutely  re- 
fused to  do  this. 

"The  few  men  with  him  were  frightened,  unarmed 
natives  of   Seoul    (absolutely  useless  in  an  emergency 


A  Memorable  Journey  85 

like  this),  but,  having  placed  himself  with  the  brave, 
little  soldier  at  his  side,  in  a  narrow  space  wide  enough 
only  for  two,  between  the  walls  of  the  compound 
and  the  house,  he  bade  the  latter  cut  the  mapoo's 
bands.  The  leader  threatened  to  kill  him  if  he  did  so, 
but  he  turned  to  Mr.  Underwood  and  said:  'Does  His 
Honor  bid  me  cut  ?'  and,  receiving  a  reply  in  the  affirma- 
tive, he  at  once  cut  the  ropes  which  bound  the  mapoo's 
hands.  The  ruffians  made  a  rush,  but  Mr,  Underwood, 
hastily  pushing  the  mapoo  behind  him,  managed,  with 
the  aid  of  the  soldier  at  his  side  in  that  narrow  place, 
to  push  one  man  back  against  the  others  and  keep  them 
off  for  some  time.  While  his  whole  attention,  however,  ^ 
was  engaged  with  those  in  front,  some  of  the  party 
found  a  way  to  the  rear  and,  coming  up  quickly  behind, 
suddenly  pinioned  his  arms  back,  while  the  others  car- 
ried off  our  poor  mapoo  away  outside  the  village,  their 
voices  dying  in  the  distance.  In  the  awful  silence  that 
succeeded  the  uproar,  we  waited  what  should  follow. 
After  what  seemed  an  age  of  suspense,  they  returned 
without  the  man  and  seized  and  carried  off  our  con- 
stable. Again  that  fateful  silence,  that  agonizing  sus- 
pense; again  another  raid  and  our  other  mapoo  was 
dragged  away.  If  he  and  our  other  companions  had 
shown  half  the  courage  of  the  little  soldier  and  made 
any  effort  to  defend  themselves  and  us,  and  especially 
had  the  chair-coolies  stood  by  us,  the  ruffians  would 
most  likely  have  been  beaten  off;  as  it  was,  we  were 
practically  helpless,  the  only  question  was,  who  was  to 
be  attacked  next.  Mr.  Underwood  was  very  doubtful 
of  the  wisdom  of  producing  the  little  revolver  until  the 
very  last  extremity.     One  by  one,  they  carried   away 


86  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  members  of  our  little  party  until  only  Mr.  Under- 
wood, the  soldier  and  I  were  left. 

**We  learned  afterward  that  they  were  a  set  of  wild 
men,  many  of  them  fugitives  trom  justice,  probably  an 
organized  band  of  robbers,  into  whose  hands  we  had 
fallen,  and  the  fear  that  lay  like  ice  at  my  heart  was 
that  when  our  party  were  removed  one  by  one,  they 
would  carry  away  and  murder  my  husband,  too.  So 
I  waited  scarcely  breathing  for  the  next  return.  What 
I  dreaded,  they  did,  in  fact,  propose  to  do,  saying  it 
was  the  right  way  to  treat  foreigners.  When  the  affair 
reached  this  point,  the  villagers  interfered  and  forbade; 
they  said  they  had  allowed  them  to  carry  off  our  servants 
and  money,  but,  should  we  foreigners,  known  at  the 
palace,  carrying  a  passport,  be  killed  there,  their  village 
would  have  to  bear  the  penalty,  and  we  must  be  spared. 
Probably  people  knowing  the  haunts  of  the  criminals 
and  able  to  identify  them  had  them  to  some  extent  in 
their  power.  The  men,  therefore,  sullenly  filed  away. 
One  or  two  of  the  fiercest  and  most  repulsive  still  hung 
about  and  one  of  them  walked  into  my  room  (an  insult  in 
the  eyes  of  all  Koreans)  and  insolently  stared  until  my 
husband  ordered  him  out.  The  inn-keeper  was  a  little 
man,  not  five  feet  high,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  re- 
assure and  make  me  comfortable.  It  was  twenty-five 
English  miles  to  the  nearest  magistracy  and,  doing  our 
best,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  reach  it  that  night; 
but  we  knew,  if  any  help  was  to  be  had  for  the  captives, 
it  must  be  secured  at  once,  aside  from  the  fact  that  we 
had  no  assurance  of  safety  with  so  small  a  party  until 
within  the  walls  of  the  yamen,  so  we  decided  to  start  as 
soon  as  possible. 


A  Memorable  Journey  87 

"My  scared  chair-coolies  had  sneaked  out  of  their  hid- 
ing-places in  a  sufficiently  well-preserved  condition  to 
be  able  to  partake  of  a  hearty  meal  and  we  were  soon 
able  to  start.  My  husband  had  a  Korean  pony  which 
possessed  the  rare  virtue  of  kicking  and  biting  any  one 
who  attempted  to  touch  him  except  his  mapoo  and  his 
master,  to  which  quality  we  were  indebted  for  his  being 
left  us  that  day. 

"Most  of  our  belongings  we  were  compelled  to  leave 
behind.  We  asked  the  host  to  take  them  into  his  house, 
to  which  he  willingly  consented.  His  son,  in  an  agony 
of  terror,  begged  him  not  to  do  so,  as  the  robbers  had 
threatened  to  come  and  burn  down  his  house  if  he 
sheltered  either  us  or  our  goods.  The  stout-hearted 
little  fellow,  whose  soul  was  much  too  large  for  his 
body,  laughed  at  the  threat  and,  bidding  one  of  the  very 
men  who  attacked  us,  give  a  lift,  he  carried  our  two 
trunks  into  his  house  and  said  he  would  take  good  care 
of  them  for  us  until  we  should  send  for  them. 

"In  the  meanwhile,  Mr.  Underwood  had  been  urging 
me  to  eat,  which  I  tried  in  vain  to  do ;  in  fact,  I  may 
as  well  admit  I  was  a  very  much  frightened  woman 
and  my  whole  desire  was  to  run  away  as  fast  and  as 
far  as  possible. 

"Just  as  we  were  ready  to  start,  two  or  three  country 
people  came  and  asked  for  medicines  for  trifling  com- 
plaints. Surely  we  could  not  wait  then  when  the  lives 
of  our  poor  people,  as  well  as  our  own  perhaps,  de- 
pended upon  our  speedy  departure!  Midnight  would 
overtake  us  before  we  could  reach  a  protecting  magis- 
trate. But  not  so  counseled  Mr.  Underwood.  These 
men  and  women  needed  help  which  we  could  give;  it 


88  Underwood  of  Korea 

was  our  duty  to  show  that  we  had  come  in  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood  and  love,  and  it  gave  us  a  fine  opening  to 
dehver  a  message  and  distribute  the  printed  Word,  it 
would  not  take  long  and,  in  any  case,  were  we  not  in 
God's  hands?  So,  not  knowing  what  moment  the  ruf- 
fians might  return  to  drag  us  away  to  share  the  unknown 
fate  of  our  attendants,  perhaps  death,  surely  torture,  I 
prescribed.  Alas,  I  hope  none  of  my  patients  was  poi- 
soned!  At  length,  all  had  been  seen,  the  medicines  re- 
packed, when  another  patient  appeared ;  again  we  waited ; 
I  diagnosed  and  prescribed,  Mr.  Underwood  prepared 
the  medicine.  But  still  another  and  yet  another  came, 
till  I  began  to  think  we  should  not  be  able  to  leave  that 
day  at  all.  At  last,  however,  all  were  satisfied  and  we 
started  on  our  race  with  time  considerably  after  2 
o'clock." 

I  like  to  remember  the  good,  little  inn-keeper  espe- 
cially in  recalling  this  incident:  we  had  never  seen  him 
before,  but  he  was  such  a  brave  and  enthusiastic  friend 
I  can  never  cease  to  be  grateful  for  the  kindness  and  good 
will  shown  to  strangers  to  whom  he  was  under  not  the 
least  obligation. 

The  magistrate  at  our  next  stopping-place  turned  out 
to  be  one  of  those  warm  friends,  of  whom  Mr.  Under- 
wood had  so  many  in  Seoul,  who  had  recently  been  sent 
to  this  lonely  place.  He  welcomed  us  with  great  cordi- 
ality and  entertained  us  at  his  magistracy  until  our 
people  were  brought  back  and  our  goods  recovered. 
Thus  it  was,  wherever  in  the  world  this  man  went,  he 
invariably  found  old  or  made  new  friends. 

Everywhere  during  our  journey  there  were  crowds, 


A  Memorable  Journey  89 

some  of  them  rather  rough,  but  Mr.  Underwood  man- 
aged them  all :  he  was  full  of  resources,  of  patience,  of 
good  humor;  nothing  really  untoward  came  to  pass. 
But  I  am  not  at  all  so  sure  that,  at  that  time  had  my 
conductor  been  any  one  else,  we  should  have  escaped 
so  well;  not  that  the  people  were  ugly  or  intentionally 
unkind,  but  many  of  them  were  the  roughest  class  of 
country  people,  with  no  high  respect  for  a  young  foreign 
woman  who  would  travel,  and  wild  with  curiosity  to  see 
foreigners  from  over  seas. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Underwood  \^2ls  not  so  cautious  as 
worldly  wisdom  would  have  dictated.  Did  he  trust  God 
too  much?  Was  he  reckless  as  well  as  brave?  I  some- 
times think  he  was  reckless  of  himself  and  of  us,  and 
of  all  consequences  when  he  was  bent  on  duty,  but 
at  any  rate,  no  harm  ever  came,  though  at  times  it 
seemed  near.  Kipling  writes  of  ''a  reckless  seraphim 
hanging  on  the  rein  of  a  red-maned  star,"  and  it  has 
occurred  to  me  that  my  experiences  have  been  nearly 
as  strenuous  as  that  angel's,  and  my  husband  was  much 
like  that  red-maned  star. 

We  stayed  a  while  at  We  Ju,  taught  the  Christians 
and  then  reluctantly  turned  our  faces  homeward,  but, 
before  doing  so,  Mr.  Underwood  went  across  into 
Manchuria  and  baptized  about  thirty  people  out  of  one 
hundred  applicants  who  gave  evidence  of  true  conver- 
sion. Our  American  minister  had  exacted  a  promise 
not  to  baptize  on  Korean  soil.  Mr.  Underwood  considered 
that  as  that  official  had  no  jurisdiction  in  China  or  over 
the  conduct  of  Koreans  outside  Korea,  it  was  all  the 
obedience  such  an  unwarranted  requirement  could  de- 


90  Underwood  of  Korea 

serve,  to  regard  it  as  he  had  scrupulously  done  when 
within  the  confines  of  Korea.  These  people  needed  the 
bond  of  union  and  the  blessing  that  comes  with  the 
solemn  administration  of  those  holy  sacraments,  and  we 
must  leave  them  for  we  knew  not  how  long!  These 
were  the  only  ones  baptized  on  this  trip  and  more  than 
he  had  received  before  or  did  receive  for  some  time  after- 
ward. Compared  with  what  had  been  the  result  in  other 
lands,  it  seemed  very  many,  so  early  in  our  mission 
history.  The  number  was  exaggerated  by  rumor  later 
and  he  was  accused  of  rashly  baptizing  a  horde  of  new 
so-called  believers,  of  whom  he  knew  little,  in  order  to 
lengthen  our  lists ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  extremely  con- 
scientious, painstaking  care  was  exercised  in  their  ex- 
amination ;  several  had  been  long  prepared,  having  been 
known  to  Mr.  Underwood  and  under  instruction  for  more 
than  a  year ;  some  had  been  reported  ready  for  baptism 
by  Mr.  Soh  three  years  before.  No  one  was  able  to  visit 
these  people  for  two  years;  no  response  had  come  as 
yet  to  the  pleas  for  more  misssionaries ;  the  demands  of 
work  in  Seoul,  and  sickness,  made  it  impossible  for  any 
one  to  go  and  shepherd  them.  With  no  pastor  and  few 
books,  it  would,  humanly  speaking,  be  not  surprising  if 
they  fell  away  or  grew  cold  and  forgetful.  They  were 
not  from  the  city  of  We  Ju,  but  from  Httle  hamlets  at 
a  distance,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  away.  However,  we 
get  some  cheering  word  occasionally  even  now  of  those 
early  believers  and  the  growth  of  the  few  seeds  into  a 
generous  harvest. 

One  story  told  me  two  or  three  years  ago  by  Mr. 
McCune,  a  missionary  who  lives  in  one  of  our  northern 


Members  of  a  Korean  Christian  Family 


A  Memorable  Journey  91 

stations,  seems  to  me  to  be  of  peculiar  interest  and  a 
source  of  encouragement  in  showing  how  the  seed  of 
the  Word  takes  root. 

A  certain  elderly  Korean  woman  had  visited  in  or 
near  We  Ju  soon  after  we  had  been  there  and  met  some 
one  who  had  seen  Mr.  Underwood  and  heard  the  Gospel 
story.  She  did  not  even  have  one  of  our  tracts  or 
hymn-books,  much  less  any  part  of  the  New  Testament. 
What  she  heard,  or  at  least  what  she  understood  and 
remembered,  was,  indeed,  but  a  tiny  morsel  of  truth, 
but  it  took  deeper  and  deeper  root  in  the  good  ground 
of  her  heart.  "There  is  only  one  God  and  we  must 
worship  no  other."  That  was  the  first  article  of  her 
simple  creed.  For  the  second :  **We  must  also  put  away 
our  sins,  be  good  and  pure  and  true."  And  third :  "We 
must  keep  one  day  in  seven  holy  and  sing  the  words, 
'Yesu  We  Pee  Patkui  Umnay'  "  (Nothing  But  the  Blood 
of  Jesus).  She  went  back  home,  much  farther  South, 
near  Syen  Chun,  very  happy  in  her  new  faith  and  prac- 
tice, telling  her  neighbors,  of  course,  and  soon  her  best 
friend  and  crony  joined  her.  Their  changed  lives  at- 
tracted much  attention  in  their  community  and,  after 
a  while,  two  others  were  added,  leading  men  in  the 
little  town,  one  of  whom  had  been  noted  for  his  wicked- 
ness— I  believe  he  was  a  prize-fighter.  They  both 
felt  drawn  to  a  religion  so  pure,  worshiping  only  the 
one  great  God  of  Heaven,  living  lives  of  innocence  and 
purity,  giving  one  day  in  seven  entirely  to  Him.  They 
all  four  became  marked  people;  their  example  was  im- 
pressing itself  upon  everybody  and,  one  by  one,  a  few 
others  came  into  the  circle,  and  for  some  years  they 


\ 


92  Underwood  of  Korea 

lived  thus  in  the  half  light,  serving  God  as  best  they 
knew. 

At  length,  a  colporter  from  Syen  Chun  came  that 
way.  He  was  shocked  to  find  that  people  who  were 
worshiping  only  the  one  true  God  should  be  doing  this 
in  a  wine-shop.  For  our  first  believer,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, was  a  liquor-dealer,  but  when  she  learned  this 
was  wrong,  out  went  all  the  liquor  into  the  ditch.  The 
teacher  then  told  them  the  meaning  of  the  words  they 
had  so  ignorantly  sung;  taught  them  the  sweet  "J^^us- 
doctrine,"  and  soon  they  were  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge 
of  a  Saviour  who  had  died  for  them.  They  were  pro- 
vided with  hymn-books  and  catechisms,  and,  ere  this 
messenger  left  them,  others  had  been  added  to  their 
number  and,  before  many  months  passed  on,  many 
others.  Some  years  later,  a  church  was  built  and  then 
enlarged  and  now  it  claims  seven  hundred  members. 
One  of  the  original  four,  the  prize-fighter,  is  a  regu- 
larly ordained  pastor  and  one  of  the  others  is  an  elder. 
Just  a  little  seed  that  God  blessed ! 

A  letter  written  by  Dr.  Gale  from  We  Ju,  where  he 
was  then  visiting  in  1891,  says:  "I  am  surprised  to  find 
the  result  of  your  work  as  seen  in  We  Ju  and  the  sur- 
rounding villages.  The  people  here  are  wonderfully 
awakened.  We  have  not  seen  all  the  baptized  members 
yet,  but  those  we  have  seen  are  fine.  Your  accounts  of 
We  Ju  to  me  have  been  more  than  realized." 

We  heard,  too,  good  reports  of  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel  there  through  other  friends,  so  that  we  were 
comforted  in  the  belief  that  God  was  keeping  His  own 
and  watching  over  His  little  flock. 


A  Memorable  Journey  93 

Having  sold  our  books  and  disposed  of  our  medicines 
and  tracts,  we  turned  our  faces  homeward  and  reached 
Seoul  without  further  incident  worthy  of  remark.  We 
arrived  about  the  middle  of  May,  having  been  absent  two 
months,  having  traveled  over  a  thousand  miles,  treated 
over  six  hundred  patients  and  talked  to  many  times  that 
number. 


CHAPTER  V 
GRAMMARIAN  AND  LEXICOGRAPHER 

WE  found  on  our  return  to  Seoul  that  the  little 
meeting-place  had  been  closed  by  our  mission 
in  obedience  to  the  edict  referred  to  before, 
but  we  opened  our  house,  and  services  were  held  there 
until  all  the  mission  were  willing  to  use  the  little  chapel 
again.  Mr.  Underwood  had  the  clearest  conviction  that 
regular  public  worship  must  go  on,  and  that  all  need  for 
discontinuance  was  over,  had  it  ever  existed.  He  disliked 
acting  against  the  advice  of  the  others,  but  evangelistic 
work  was  especially  his  care  and  he  felt  obliged  to  do  as 
he  did. 

The  following  summer  was  spent  in  a  little  summer 
residence  loaned  us  by  the  King,  which  was  situated 
fifty  feet  above  the  River  Han  among  some  grand  old 
trees.  Here  Mr.  Underwood  worked  on  through  the  hot 
months  from  early  dawn  far  into  the  night  hours  on 
his  dictionary.  Dr.  Gale  and  Mr.  Hulbert  both  assisted 
with  this  at  diflferent  times. 

In  the  fall  of  1889,  Dr.  Mitchell,  our  Board  Secre- 
tary and  Mrs.  Mitchell  visited  our  mission.  This  visit 
has  already  been  briefly  referred  to  in  speaking  of  the 
differences  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  non-worship 
edict.  But  for  Dr.  Mitchell,  Mr.  Underwood  would  not 
have  been  able  at  that  time  to  get  the  mission's  consent 

94 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer  95 

to  publish  the  dictionary  and  grammar  then  ready  for 
the  press.  The  opposition  was  so  marked  that  no  one 
would  make  a  motion  or  utter  a  word  until  Dr.  Mitchell, 
who  was  present  and  naturally  carried  much  weight  as 
representing  the  Board,  took  the  responsibility  and  in- 
sisted on  permission  being  given  to  Mr.  Underwood  to 
go  to  Japan  for  the  work.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
matrices  for  Korean  type  should  be  made  and  this  must 
be  personally  supervised,  as  well  as  proof-reading, 
which  no  one  else  could  do.  Possibly  it  may  have  been 
felt  that  the  book  should  wait,  as  there  was  such  pres- 
sure of  educational  and  evangelistic  work  at  the  time. 
But  new  workers  were  on  the  way  and  a  primal  neces- 
sity was  that  helps  should  be  ready  to  facilitate  them 
in  reaching  the  waiting  millions.  It  is  more  than  likely, 
too,  that  the  two  or  three  men  who  then  comprised  our 
mission  felt  very  doubtful  whether  a  new,  young  mis- 
sionary like  Mr.  Underwood,  scarcely  four  years  on  the 
field,  could  possibly  prepare  a  dictionary  and  grammar  to 
be  relied  on.  Their  surprise,  when  the  finished  product 
was  laid  before  them,  showed  that  such  doubts  must 
have  existed. 

I  may  add  here  that  this  book  was  revised  in  191 5, 
after  having  been  in  constant  and  general  use  by  mis- 
sionaries all  this  time,  over  twenty-five  years,  and,  after 
frequent  calls  for  criticism  by  the  author;  but  with  the 
strictest  and  most  careful  revision,  only  a  few  mistakes, 
mostly  in  proof-reading,  and  other  unimportant  errors 
could  be  found,  and  the  books  are  to-day  substantially 
what  they  were  when  the  young  missionary  prepared 
them  in  1888  and  1889. 

At  the  station  meeting  just  referred  to,  it  was  moved 


96  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  carried  that  no  street  preaching  or  distributing  of 
tracts  would  be  allowed  without  special  station  permis- 
sion on  each  occasion.  When  later  Dr.  Mitchell's  atten- 
tion was  called  by  Mr.  Underwood  to  the  limitations 
this  would  put  upon  Christian  work,  he  called  another 
meeting  and  led  our  missionaries  to  see  that  the  reins 
must  be  loosened  for  evangelistic  service. 
)  But  to  return  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mitchell.  While  they 
were  with  us,  real  Fall  weather  began  and  our  paper 
windows  had  to  be  pasted  all  around  the  edges  with 
tough  Korean  fibre  paper  to  keep  out  the  sharp  wind 
that  whistled  through  on  every  side.  Our  own  bed  lay 
in  an  alcove  which  boasted  a  window  on  either  side  and 
one  night,  when  both  rain  and  wind  came  together,  the 
windows  were  soon  reduced  to  a  few  wet  shreds  of 
pulp,  while  we  were  obliged  to  keep  as  dry  as  might 
be  with  mackintoshes  ar\d  umbrellas  spread  over  our 
couch.  We  thought  it  a  huge  joke  and  told  it  next  day 
with  the  glee  which  missionaries  always  feel  when  they 
can  make  Board  Secretaries  realize  some  of  the  things 
they  have  to  contend  against  when  appropriations  are 
cut  too  low.  Dr.  Mitchell  was*  very  properly  shocked 
and  gave  us  a  severe  scolding,  and  from  that  time  most 
of  our  windows  were  paned  with  glass. 

That  summer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davies  of  Australia,  with 
his  sister,  came  to  Korea.  He  was  a  man  of  the  same 
zealous  spirit,  the  same  energy,  the  same  gift  for  lan- 
guages as  Mr.  Underwood.  The  two  seemed  to  possess 
thoroughly  sympathetic  natures  and  Mr.  Underwood 
hoped  for  great  blessing  and  help  in  the  years  to  come 
from  such  an  adviser  and  co-worker.  They  were  both, 
of  course,  strong  believers  in  prayer  and  would  often 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer  97' 

pray  together  in  Mr.  Underwood's  study  over  the  work 
they  were  doing  and  for  the  milUons  they  longed  to  save. 
But  we  were  called  upon  to  experience  one  of  the  un- 
solvable  mysteries  of  God's  ways,  for  the  following  year, 
late  in  the  winter,  this  beautiful  spirit  was  called  heaven-  ' 
ward.  He  was  taken  with  small-pox  while  traveling  in 
the  interior  and  only  lived  to  reach  Fusan  on  the  south- 
ern coast  of  Korea,  where  he  lies  buried. 

Up  to  the  fall  of  1889,  the  Methodist  and  Presby- 
terian converts  together  only  numbered  a  little  over  one 
hundred.  But  one  hundred  in  four  years  was  phenom- 
enal compared  with  the  history  of  the  slow  growth  of  the 
work  in  most  Oriental  countries  where  missionaries  have 
gone.  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  greatest 
care  and  strictness  were  shown  in  admitting  applicants 
to  the  new  church,  in  order  that  foundations  should  be 
carefully  laid. 

That  year  in  the  early  fall  I  was  invited  to  two  audi- 
ences at  the  palace,  at  one  of  which  the  Queen  gave  a  pair 
of  gold  bracelets  to  me  and  a  pearl  ring  for  Mr.  Under- 
wood as  wedding  presents,  which  hid  not  been  ready 
when  we  went  a^vay. 

In  October  of  1889,  in  accordance  with  mission  ac-  ; 
tion  referred  to  some  pages  back,  we  went  to  Japan 
accompanied  by  a  Korean,  who  was  a  fine  scholar,  to 
publish  the  language  helps.  As  the  type  had  to  be  made  < 
under  Mr.  Underwood's  supervision,  he  had  time  to 
review  the  works  and  to  re-write  the  whole  of  the  first 
part.  Mr.  James  Ballagh  and  his  wife  kindly  allowed 
us  to  board  with  them,  and  we  have  always  recalled  the 
days  spent  in  their  hospitable  home  as  among  the  happiest 
in  our  lives. 


98  Underwood  of  Korea 

Mr.  Underwood  took  a  hearty  share,  as  before,  in 
evangelistic  revival  work  among  English-speaking  for- 
eigners, including  sailors ;  he  visited  the  hospitals  and  lent 
a  hand  when  he  could. 

The  "teacher"  was  an  anxiety.  He  did  not  like 
Japanese  rice  (neither  Japanese,  Chinese,  nor  Koreans 
enjoy  rice  as  cooked  by  any  one  of  the  others)  ;  he  had 
never  yet  cooked  for  himself  and  had  sore  trials  at- 
tempting to  do  so;  he  was  homesick  and  determined  to 
return  before  the  books  were  done  and  the  proof  all 
corrected,  while  Mr.  Underwood  was  more  determined 
that  he  should  remain.  Any  one  who  knew  the  latter 
might  guess  who  came  out  ahead.  But  it  was  not  easy: 
we  could  not  force  the  man  against  his  will.  It  was 
necessary  to  cajole,  coax  and  postpone,  to  give  extra 
inducements,  to  hide  the  papers  which  told  of  .ships' 
sailings,  and  almost  everything  except  to  chain  him  up 
hand  and  foot.  The  books  must  be  finished;  he  was 
the  best  available  man  and,  ergo,  stay  he  must,  and  stay 
he  did. 

While  he  was  in  Japan,  Mr.  Underwood,  after  much 
hesitation,  offered  his  resignation  to  the  Board.  The  final 
station  meeting  held  in  Dr.  Mitchell's  presence  before 
he  left  Seoul  had  shown  so  much  opposition  to  his 
methods  of  work,  and  such  a  strong  tendency  to  re- 
strict and  hamper  his  evangelistic  efforts,  that  it  looked 
as  though  it  would  be  practically  impossible  for  him  to 
carry  on  mission  work  under  such  handicaps.  Letters 
came  from  Korea  to  him  while  in  Japan,  which  manifested 
the  same  attitude,  and  so  with  great  regret,  but  seeing  no 
other  way,  he  had  come  to  this  decision.  In  due  time 
a   reply   came    from   the   President   of   the   Board,   the 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer  99 

revered  and  sainted  Dr.  Wells.  It  was,  indeed,  sucH 
a  letter  as  a  wise  and  holy  father  might  send  his  son, 
counseling  patience,  endurance  and  perseverance,  encour- 
aging him  to  go  on,  trusting  in  God,  doing  the  best  he 
could.  Mr.  Underwood  was  deeply  touched;  he  prayed 
earnestly  over  this,  and  on  his  knees  resolved  to  take 
up  his  cross,  and  never  again  did  he  try  to  obtain  release 
until  his  Master  replaced  it  with  a  crown,  and  called 
him  to  join  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

The  books  were  finished  April  26,  1890,  and  we  re- 
turned to  Korea  in  May.  Soon  after  this  we  had  a  visit 
from  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Nevius  of  China.  This  old  and  ex- 
perienced missionary  from  a  field  in  many  respects  so  like 
our  own,  was  welcomed  as  from  Heaven.  Mr.  Under- 
wood had  repeatedly  written,  begging  that  some  one 
of  experience  on  the  field  might  be  sent  to  us ;  he  felt 
so  young  and  so  at  a  loss  facing  the  many  problems 
which  the  work  presented.  Dr.  Nevius  was  a  wonderful 
help  and  explained  to  us  all  the  self-support  methods 
which  he  had  used  in  China  and  which  were  afterward 
practically  adopted  by  our  mission  with  such  amplifica- 
tions and  changes  as  circumstances  seemed  to  require. 

I  will  quote  from  'The  Call  of  Korea"  Mr.  Under- 
wood's own  words  as  to  the  rules  then  adopted: 

"i.  To  let  each  man  abide  in  the  calling  where  he 
was  found,  teaching  that  each  was  to  be  an  individual 
worker  for  Christ  and  to  live  Christ  in  his  own  neigh- 
borhood, supporting  himself  by  his  trade. 

"2.  To  develop  church  methods  and  machinery  only 
so  far  as  the  native  church  was  able  to  take  care  of  and 
manage  the  same. 

"3.  As  far  as  the  church  itself  was  able  to  provide  the 


100  Underwood  of  Korea 

men  and  means,  to  set  aside  those  who  seemed  the  better 
quaUfied  to  do  evangeUstic  work  among  their  neighbors. 

**4.  To  let  the  natives  provide  their  own  church  build- 
ings, which  were  to  be  native  in  architecture  and  of  such 
style  as  the  native  church  could  afford  to  put  up. 

'The  individuals  who  first  learned  the  Truth  became 
the  teachers  of  others  and  naturally  the  leaders  of  the 
groups  they  had  started.  These  men  were  gathered 
into  Bible  classes  for  leaders,  to  be  instructed  as  to 
their  duties,  as  to  how  to  teach  and  watch  over  the 
groups  under  their  charge.  Not  infrequently,  among 
these  leaders  of  the  local  classes,  one  and  another  would 
show  special  proficiency  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  work, 
and  the  district,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  missionary, 
more  often  on  their  own  initiative,  would  ask  that  such 
a  one  become  superintendent  of  a  district  and  among 
the  various  groups  would  raise  his  salary.  In  new  dis- 
tricts, sometimes  the  mission,  by  way  of  encouragement, 
would,  at  the  beginning,  pay  one-half,  but  this  was  only 
temporarily  and  even  then,  the  mission,  except  under 
extraordinary  circumstances,  would  not  allow  the  mis- 
sionary to  have  funds  that  would  support  more  than 
two  paid  helpers.  These  district  leaders  were,  of  course, 
gathered  into  special  classes  in  which  they  were  in- 
structed. In  addition  to  this,  there  were  held  the  church 
Bible  classes,  which  were  put  through  a  graded  course  of 
instruction  and  have  grown  very  many  and  very  large." 

Although  the  majority  in  Dr.  Nevius'  mission  opposed 
his  self-support  plan,  I  am  told,  till  the  day  of  his  death 
and  long  after,  so  that  his  methods  had  no  fair  trial 
there,  still  wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children,  and  we 
all  give  thanks  to  God  for  Korea's  splendid  advance,  due 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer        101 

In  a  great  degree  to  Dr.  Nevius  and  his  advice.  More- 
over, now  the  same  method  is  being  used  with  great  suc- 
cess in  many  parts  pi  China,  as  well  as  Africa,  where  the 
success  is  even  more  phenomenal  than  in  Korea.  It  is 
almost  certain  he  knows  and  rejoices  now  in  the  late 
fruitage  of  his  work. 

"  Tis  weary  watching  wave  by  wave. 

But  still  the  tide  heaves  onward. 
We  climb  like  corals,  grave  by  grave, 

But  pave  a  path  that's  sunward. 
We're  beaten  back  in  many  a  fray. 

But  newer  strength  we  borrow, 
And  where  the  vanguard  camps  to-day 

The  rear  shall  rest  to-morrow." 

Most  of  those  grand,  clear-headed,  far-visioned  men 
are  calmly  trusting  and  altogether  hopeful  in  the  midst  of 
the  fiercest  opposition,  knowing  that,  if  not  here  and 
now,  yet  a  little  later  they  shall  see  how  the  pleasure  of 
the  Lord  has  prospered  in  their  hands. 

Dr.  Heron  and  his  family  spent  that  summer  among  the 
mountains,  some  miles  from  the  city.  His  hospital  duties, 
however,  necessitated  his  return  to  the  city  several  times 
a  week.  His  labors  and  travel  in  the  extreme  heat  so 
exhausted  him,  that  when  he  was  attacked  with  dysen- 
tery, he  was  not  able  to  resist  the  disease.  His  death 
brought  up  the  question  of  a  suitable  cemetery  site  for 
foreigners.  Much  difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing 
the  consent  of  the  Government  for  the  use  of  any  piece 
of  ground  really  desirable  for  the  purpose.  Under  treaty 
obligations,  the  Government  was  obliged  to  provide  a 
cemetery   site.     The   officials   proposed  one   spot   after 


102  Underwood  of  Korea 

another,  but  refused  their  consent  to  the  purchase  of  the 
site  desired.  At  last  it  was  proposed  to  inter  Dr.  Heron's 
body  within  our  mission  compound.  However,  our 
Korean  teachers  and  helpers,  terrified  by  their  strong 
superstitions  against  burying  any  dead  body  within  the 
city  walls,  protested  so  vigorously  and  besought  us  with 
such  wringing  of  hands  and  disheveled  hair  not  to  do 
this,  as  the  indignant  populace  treatened  to  kill  them  and 
burn  our  houses,  that  we  naturally  hesitated.  At  this 
point  the  Government,  to  whom  word  of  our  intention 
had  been  carried  and  with  whom  the  American  Minister 
and  Dr.  Allen  (who  had  returned  again  as  a  missionary) 
had  been  laboring  for  two  or  three  days,  now  came  to 
terms  and  appointed  a  suitable  place  on  a  bluff  above 
the  river  about  five  miles  from  Seoul. 

In  September  of  1890,  our  son  was  born.  There  were 
no  nurses  to  be  hired ;  the  few  missionaries  were  all 
overworked;  but  Mr.  Underwood  took  care  of  his  wife 
and  child  like  a  trained  nurse,  and  often,  even  after  his 
wife  was  able  to  take  up  a  mother's  regular  duties,  he 
seemed  to  consider  it  one  of  his  rights,  of  which  he  was 
very  jealous,  to  help  watch  over  and  care  for  the  infant 
at  night. 

On  account  of  the  mother's  illness,  when  the  child  was 
about  two  months  old,  doctors  ordered  a  short  sea  trip 
to  Chee  Foo  in  China  to  prove  what  sea  air  and  change 
could  do.  So  the  work  had  to  be  dropped  for  a  little,  but 
Mr.  Underwood  took  advantage  of  the  trip  to  learn  all 
he  could  from  studying  the  work  in  China  and  listening 
to  the  experiences  of  her  missionaries.  We  returned 
in  November,  when  he  again  took  up  all  the  work  he 
could  carry. 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer         103 

At  Christmas,  we  had  one  of  those  dinners  given  to  first 
comers  of  both  missions — a  custom  Mr.  Underwood  con- 
tinued whenever  he  was  in  Korea ;  old  tales  were  retold, 
old  songs  were  sung,  old  games  were  played,  old  clothes 
were  worn.  The  social  element  was  very  strong  in  his 
character:  he  loved  to  have  people  about  him  and  these 
little  reunions  served  a  good  purpose  in  keeping  bright 
and  clear  the  light  of  friendship  and  good  will,  so  helping 
us  all  to  work  together  with  better  understanding,  more 
forbearance  and  less  friction.  Of  late  years,  it  has  been 
interesting  to  see  the  children  of  some  of  the  pioneers 
coming  in  their  parents'  places  or  with  them.  There 
was  a  Christmas  tree,  too,  that  year,  at  which  the  little 
Scrantons,  Aliens,  Appenzellers  and  Herons,  with  little 
Japanese,  English  and  Russians  from  the  Legations,  and 
a  very  small  Chinaman  from  the  Customs  were  guests. 
Mr.  Underwood  enjoyed  this  party  quite  as  much,  if  not 
more  than  the  other.  He  had  the  Korean  schoolboys  in 
the  next  night  and  gave  them  all  presents — tops,  pen- 
knives, balls  and  the  various  things  boys  like,  not  for- 
getting candies,  cake,  oranges,  and  such  things. 

We  had  been  almost  overwhelmed  with  presents  from 
the  palace,  as  was  usual  on  holidays;  hundreds  of  eggs, 
dozens  of  strings  of  persimmons,  bags  of  nuts,  pheasants, 
pounds  and  pounds  of  beef  and  fish.  One  lot  was  for 
Mr.  Underwood  as  official  professor  at  the  hospital 
school,  one  for  his  wife  as  physician  to  the  Queen.  Of 
course,  we  shared  these  with  our  missionary  and  Korean 
friends,  and  sent  the  beef  and  fish  to  the  school. 

It  was  then  and  ever  since  has  been  the  custom  for 
foreigners  and  natives  to  call  on  all  their  friends  on 
New  Year's  Day.    It  is  an  old  native  custom  and  all,  from 


104  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  officials  of  the  Foreign  Legations,  EngUsh,  Russian, 
Japanese,  French  and  Chinese,  the  high  Korean  princes 
and  nobility  (the  late  Yuan>Shi  Kai,  Chinese  Ambassador 
to  Korea,  was  one  of  our  guests),  to  the  missionaries, 
the  church  people  and  teachers  and  the  little  schoolboys 
who  came  to  make  their  bows,  everybody  came  to  call  on 
Mr.  Underwood. 

The  high  Korean  officials  could  not  be  asked  to  take 
refreshments  in  the  same  room  with  humble  church 
people  or  schoolboys,  so  there  had  to  be  several  hostesses 
meeting  them  in  separate  rooms,  showing  them  the 
flowers  in  the  little  conservatory,  running  the  music-box, 
exhibiting  the  typewriter  and  sewing-machine,  and  hav- 
ing a  perfectly  rushing  day  of  good  fellowship  and 
cheer.  We  ended  with  a  missionary  party  in  the  evening, 
for  the  remains  of  the  refreshments  must  be  disposed  of. 

As  Mr.  Underwood  always  attended  "watch-night" 
service  on  New  Year's  Eve,  he  had  a  pretty  full  thirty- 
six  hours,  but  it  all  meant  a  good,  warm  bond  of  fel- 
lowship all  around.  It  was  not  simply  preacher  and 
church  members,  teacher  and  pupils,  or  members  of 
different  missions  working  apart  in  rivalry,  but  a  circle 
of  warm,  loving  friends,  full  of  the  most  cordial  good- 
will in  such  a  bond  of  fellowship  that  from  all  over 
Korea  we  heard  at  the  time  of  his  death  the  cry:  "We 
have  lost  a  personal  friend:  we  do  not  know  how  to 
do  without  him." 

In  February  of  1891,  it  became  necessary  for  Mr. 
Underwood  with  Mr.  Baird,  one  of  the  new  arrivals, 
to  go  to  Fusan  to  select  a  site  for  a  new  station  which 
our  little  mission  had  decided  to  start.  Dr.  Gale  had 
been  there  for  some  time,  not  intending  to  remain  per- 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer        105 

manently,  I  think,  and  Mr.  Davies,  as  has  been  men- 
tioned, died  there.  The  town  of  Fusan  seemed  then  to 
have  more  Japanese  than  Koreans  and  those  who  were 
there  did  not  seem  to  be  of  a  class  who  could  be  so 
easily  reached  as  the  country  people ;  so  Mr.  Underwood 
advocated  buying  a  site  about  three  miles  away,  where 
there  was  quite  a  settlement  of  those  good,  plain  country 
folk  who  now  form  the  backbone  of  the  Korean  church. 
Mr.  Baird,  however,  was  so  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
at  that  early  stage  it  might  not  be  safe  for  foreign 
women  to  live  so  far  from  the  town  that  a  site  was  bought 
on  a  hillside  overlooking  the  bay  close  to  Fusan,  and  there 
the  new  station  was  started. 

During  Mr.  Underwood's  absence,  his  wife  and  baby 
had  been  most  kindly  cared  for  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bunker,  as  she  was  too  ill  with  rheumatic  fever 
to  be  left  by  herself  with  only  native  servants,  in  her 
husband's  absence.  These  good  friends  generously 
turned  their  parlor  into  a  bedroom  and  did  all  they  could 
to  make  us  comfortable,  but  the  invalid  grew  steadily 
worse  and  the  doctors  said  a  sea  trip  to  America  was 
the  only  possible  remedy.  They  predicted  that  the 
writer  could  never  return;  that  life  in  that  climate  would 
be  impossible,  and  it  seemed  very  doubtful,  in  fact,  if 
she  could  live  to  reach  Japan  or  America.  Of  course, 
Mr.  Underwood  gave  not  a  moment's  credence  to  such 
predictions,  so  he  stored  his  goods  away  for  use  on  our 
return;  our  canned  food  supplies  were  sold;  our  trunks 
were  packed;  friends  vied  with  each  other  in  helping 
to  make  ready  with  the  big-hearted,  generous  helpfulness 
that  distinguishes  most  missionaries  and  Europeans  living 
in  the  East. 


106  Underwood  of  Korea 

I  was  carried  in  a  litter  to  a  port — it  was  some 
twenty-eight  miles  away — and  so  we  said  ''Farewell"  to 
Korea.  But,  whatever  my  doubts  and  fears,  with  Mr. 
Underwood,  it  was  not  a  long  goodbye:  only  an  au 
revoir. 

We  made  a  little  stop  in  Kobe  on  account  of  the 
invalid  and  here  there  seemed  to  be  some  improvement. 
The  trip  across  the  Pacific  also  worked  wonders.  We 
made  a  brief  halt  on  the  Pacific  coast,  where  Mr.  Under- 
wood did  some  speaking  for  Korea  and  saw  his  old 
friend  of  New  Brunswick  days,  Dr.  Easton ;  then,  little 
by  little,  we  made  our  way  eastward  and,  after  passing 
a  few  days  in  Chicago,  went  on  to  his  brother's  home. 

Changes  had  taken  place  since  he  left.  At  Yokohama 
on  our  American-bound  way,  he  had  received  the  sad 
news  of  his  brother  Fred's  death,  which  had  just  occurred. 
He  said  nothing  to  me  of  this,  from  his  constant 
habit  of  trying  to  spare  me  anything  distressing,  but, 
as  we  had  our  evening  prayer  together,  he  seemed  so 
overcome  with  some  great  trouble  that  I  insisted  on  his 
telling  me  what  grieved  him.  Then,  breaking  down,  in 
sobs  and  tears,  he  told  of  his  loss.  The  sisters  were 
in  deep  mourning  when  we  arrived.  A  step-sister  was 
living  with  them,  and  the  family  had  moved  to  Brooklyn. 
Though  we  left  Korea  in  March,  we  had  stopped  so  often 
and  long  on  the  way  that  it  was  May  before  we  reached 
Brooklyn. 

I  fear  I  cannot  give  an  exact  detailed  account  of  all 
that  Mr.  Underwood  did  during  our  stay  of  two  years 
in  America,  but  some  few  things  have  impressed  them- 
selves on  my  memory. 

One  of  the  first  things  he  did  was  to  ask  the  Board 


Grammarian  and  Lexicographer        107 

for  more  workers  for  Korea,  but  they  sadly  replied  they 
were  in  debt ;  there  was  no  money  and  there  were,  indeed, 
no  men  available;  if  he  could  find  both  men  and  money, 
the  Board  would  appoint  them.  Not  at  all  discouraged, 
he  set  to  work  telling  the  story  of  the  open  door,  the 
receptive  people,  the  ardent  character  of  their  Chris- 
tianity as  shown  by  their  personal  work,  their  faith 
in  prayer,  their  love  of  the  Bible,  and  their  gifts.  He 
never  asked  for  collections ;  but  very  soon,  on  one  of 
the  first  Sundays  after  his  arrival,  when  he  had  made 
one  of  his  stirring  appeals,  he  had  a  promise  from  John 
Underwood  of  salaries  for  six  men  for  Korea,  if  he 
could  find  the  men.  He  went  on  telling  the  same  story 
of  the  great  opportunity  before  the  church,  in  pulpits,  in 
universities,  in  theological  seminaries,  in  Student  Volun- 
teer and  Christian  Endeavor  conventions,  and  at  special 
dinners  and  luncheons.  In  a  surprisingly  short  time,  six 
men  were  ready  to  go  out. 

But  he  was  not  satisfied  yet  by  any  means.  On  being 
asked  to  go  to  Portland,  Oregon,  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, to  speak  twenty  minutes  on  Korea,  he  was  in- 
dignant. Travel  all  those  miles,  take  all  that  time,  with 
only  twenty  minutes  for  Korea !  But,  at  length,  he 
concluded  that,  if  the  Secretaries  would  plan  for  him  to 
start  early  and  stop  off  along  the  road  to  make  mission- 
ary addresses  in  large  centers,  he  would  go.  This  was 
arranged  and  he  started  on  his  long  itinerary,  studying 
time-tables  with  his  usual  care  to  get  in  as  many  places 
as  possible,  traveling  only  at  night.  He  was  a  perfect 
time-table  fiend :  he  delighted  to  get  the  best  of  them,  to 
put  several  together  and  work  out  schemes  no  one  else 
would  have  dreamed  of,  to  arrive  a  little  sooner,  leave  a 


108  Underwood  of  Korea 

little  later,  to  have  a  few  minutes  more  time  to  talk  of 
Korea.  Dr.  Speer  wrote  of  him:  "Each  time  he  came 
to  America,  it  was  as  a  flaming  torch;  he  was  tireless, 
patient,  indomitable." 

He  arrived  on  time  at  Portland,  his  speech  prepared 
with  special  care  to  last  just  twenty  minutes,  every  im- 
portant item  there,  not  one  word  too  many:  it  had  been 
repeated  over  and  over,  watch  in  hand.  With  beating 
heart  he  heard  his  name  called  and  hastened  up  to  the 
platform,  only  to  be  told  in  a  whisper  as  he  reached  it, 
that  it  had  been  necessary  to  shorten  his  time  to  ten 
minutes!  It  was  a  cruel  disappointment  and  such  a 
shock  that  for  a  moment  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could 
not  speak  at  all.  There  was  no  time  for  him  to  rear- 
range his  story  or  to  think  what  had  best  be  omitted, 
lie  had  thought  it  impossible  to  say  what  should  be 
said  in  twenty  minutes,  and  now  only  ten !  However, 
he  did  what  he  could  and  sat  down  in  deep  sorrow. 

But  afterwards  Mr.  Underwood  had  a  chance  to  ad- 
dress the  women's  meeting  on  an  afternoon,  and  had 
the  happiness  of  receiving  on  the  spot  an  offer  of  the 
salary  for  a  single  woman  worker  and  of  hearing  a 
young  woman  volunteer  for  Korea  that  very  day.  So 
he  felt  that  his  trip  had  not,  after  all,  been  in  vain. 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  BUSY  VACATION 

DURING  this  visit  to  America,  Mr.  Underwood 
made  a  tour  through  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
hna,  after  addressing  a  student  conference  in 
Nashville.  Let  me  quote  from  a  letter  to  the  "Korea 
Field,"  written  by  Mr.  W.  D.  Reynolds  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Mission: 

'The  delegates  to  the  Inter-seminary  Missionary  Alliance 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  October  1891,  were  deeply  impressed 
bv  addresses  on  Korea  by  Dr.  H.  G.  Underwood  and  Hon. 
Yun  Chi  Ho,  at  that  time  a  student  in  Vanderbilt  Uni- 
versity. Among  the  delegates  were  Messrs.  L.  B.  Tate 
of  McCormick  and  C.  Johnson  and  W.  D.  Reynolds  of 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  Va.  The  two  latter,  with  a 
dear  fellow-student,  Mr.  W.  M.  Junkin,  soon  began  reading 
books  on  Korea  and  meeting  daily  for  prayer  and  confer- 
ence. Arrangements  were  made  for  a  tour  of  the  leading 
churches  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  by  Dr.  Underwood, 
to  awaken  interest  in  Korea  as  a  mission  field,  and  articles 
were  published  from  time  to  time  in  the  church  papers.  All 
four  students  applied  to  the  Executive  Committee  to  be  sent 
to  Korea,  but  were  told  'the  way  was  not  clear  to  found  a 
new  mission.'  Meantime,  God  was  clearing  the  way  by 
putting  it  into  the  heart  of  Mr.  John  Underwood  of  New 
York  to  offer  to  bear  the  expense  of  opening  the  mission. 
The  students  kept  on  praying  and  renewed  their  applications 
to  the  committee.    In  January  their  prayers  were  answered 

109 


110  Underwood  of  Korea 

in  the  form  of  a  telegram  from  the  Committee:  'Get  ready- 
to  sail  in  August/  From  the  first,  the  closest  friendship  and 
most  cordial  relations  have  existed  between  the  members  of 
the  two  missions." 

In  making  arrangements  for  this  trip  through  Virginia, 
Mr.  Underwood,  thinking  the  climate  must  be  salubrious 
in  March,  took  his  wife  and  baby  as  far  as  a  very  small 
town  in  the  hills,  where  he  fondly  hoped  rheumatism 
might  be  relieved.  He  mastered  his  playthings,  the  time- 
tables, so  thoroughly  that  he  managed  to  run  in  and  see 
us  every  few  days. 

While  on  this  tour  through  Virginia,  Mr.  Underwood 
had  one  hair-breadth  escape.    He  had  planned  whenever 

possible,  to  return  to  W ,  where  his  family  were 

staying,  if  he  could  do  so  without  missing  a  chance  to 
speak.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  having  previously 
wired  that  he  was  coming,  he  took  a  train  which  should 
bring  him  to  us  at  about  12  o'clock  at  night.  Having 
warned  the  porter  to  call  him,  he  removed  his  shoes, 
coat  and  collar  and  composed  himself  to  sleep.  Sud- 
denly awakened,  he  jumped,  thinking  he  was  late,  but 
was  admonished  by  the  porter  that  he  would  call  him 
in  plenty  of  time.  So  he  fell  asleep  again,  only  to  be 
again  awakened  by  a  sudden  jolt  from  the  stopping  of 
the  train  and,  on  glancing  out  of  the  window,  saw  the 
name  of  his  station.  He  gathered  his  things  together 
and  dressed  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  the  train,  alas, 
had  started.  He  awakened  the  soundly- sleeping  porter 
and  demanded  that  he  should  be  backed  into  the  station. 
This  the  conductor  would  not  do,  but  told   him  they 

were  only  a  short  distance  from  W ,  and  would 

land  him  right  where  they  were.    So,  strenuously  object- 


A  Busy  Vacation  111 

ing  but  helpless,  he  jumped  off  in  the  snow  on  the 
side  of  a  steep  embankment  where  the  track  was  the 
only  path.  In  pitchy  darkness,  with  no  lantern,  dazed 
still  from  recent  sleep,  with  nothing  to  guide  him,  he 
did  not  know  in  which  direction  to  start  and  chose  the 
wrong  one.  After  walking  some  time,  loaded  down 
with  heavy  suit-case  and  umbrella,  he  saw  a  stone  by 

the  roadside  marked  "Two  miles  to  W ,"  pointing 

in  the  other  direction!  He  turned  and  retraced  his  steps, 
and,  after  passing  that  part  of  the  line  from  which  he 
had  come,  he  suddenly  thought  he  heard  water  flowing 
near  and,  getting  down  on  his  hands  and  knees,  found 
himself  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  and  wide  culvert,  over 
which  passed  only  the  rails  and  ties.  There  was  no 
way  around,  so  he  crawled  across  from  tie  to  tie,  his 
baggage,  naturally,  much  impeding  his  advance.  Just 
as  he  got  across,  he  rejoiced  to  see  what  seemed  to  be 
another  traveler  coming  quickly  along  with  a  lantern. 
Only  barely  in  time  to  jump  to  the  other  track  and 
escape  instant  death,  did  he  realize  the  swift  rush  of 
an  oncoming  express.  Had  he  been  delayed  a  moment 
longer  and  been  caught  over  the  culvert,  nothing  could 
have  saved  him.  He  reached  us  some  three  hours  late 
to  find  the  writer  walking  the  floor  in  an  agony  of 
suspense,  not  knowing  what  had  befallen  him. 

It  snowed  every  day  that  month  and  we  did  not  find  it 
easy  to  keep  warm,  but  our  hearts  were  gladdened  by 
tales  of  success :  not  much  money,  but  four  young  men, 
Messrs.  Tate,  Junkin,  Reynolds  and  Johnson  were  ready 
to  go  out ;  two  would  go  with  their  wives,  one  would  be 
accompanied  by  his  sister,  Miss  Tate,  and  Miss  Davis 
(later  Mrs.  Harrison)  would  complete  the  party.     Mr. 


112  Underwood  of  Korea 

Johnson  went  under  different  auspices,  not  as  a  mission- 
ary of  the  Board  and,  after  a  year  or  so  left  the  field  and 
went  to  Japan,  where  he  carried  on  work  for  some  years, 
but  always  kept  a  strong  interest  in  and  love  for  Korea. 

Toward  the  end  of  Mr.  Underwood's  round  of  lectures 
in  the  South,  he  was  invited  to  Richmond,  where  a  great 
missionary  meeting  was  to  be  held:  I  believe,  indeed, 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  As- 
sembly. There  were  to  be  many  delegates  and  other 
missionaries.  We  were  very  proud  of  being  invited  to 
stay  at  the  Governor's  mansion,  he  and  his  family  being 
good  Presbyterians.  We  were  royally  treated  and  have 
never  forgotten  the  hospitality  and  kindness  shown  by 
everybody  at  that  time.  Mr.  Underwood  made  a  number 
of  addresses  both  before  the  Assembly  and  the  Women's 
Boards  and  deepened  their  interest  in  Korea  as  a  mission 
field. 

He  never,  under  any  circumstances,  would  allow  a 
collection  to  be  taken  for  his  benefit  or  to  pay  his  ex- 
penses. Whatever  money  went  into  the  plate  must  go 
to  foreign  missions.  He  made  addresses  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal Presbyterian  Churches  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn 
at  that  time.  Large  sums  were  raised  for  missions  and 
the  very  deep  interest  was  aroused  in  Korea  and  the 
Koreans.  I  marvel  as  I  think  of  it  now,  for  in  1891  the 
work  had  not  yet  grown  to  very  large  proportions. 

On  the  Sunday  afternoon  when  he  was  to  speak  in 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  it  rained  as  hard 
as  it  has  ever  been  known  to  do  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  The  afternoon  service  there  was  said  to  be 
poorly  attended  as  a  rule  and  he  was  very  sorry  not  to 
have  been  given  the  morning  service.    Now,  in  addition 


A  Busy  Vacation  113 

to  this,  rain!  Dr.  Hall  was  to  be  in  the  pulpit  in  any 
case,  and  some  of  Mr.  Underwood's  family  suggested 
there  would  not  be  the  slightest  use  of  taking  the  long 
trip  over  there:  better  telephone  and  cancel  his  engage- 
ment, in  hope  of  another  opportunity  on  some  better  day. 
But  he  never  canceled  engagements ;  he  never  gave  up 
anything  because  of  difficulties  in  the  road,  so  he  made  his 
way  over  there,  finding  a  few  faithful  souls  scattered 
about  the  dark  church  in  melancholy  solitude.  However, 
he  gave  them  as  rousing  a  talk  on  missions  as  though  he 
had  been  addressing  a  crowded  audience.  No  collection 
was  taken,  but  the  money  sent  in  to  him  and  to  the 
Board  that  week  for  Korea,  amounted  to  several  thou- 
sands, and  one  wealthy  man  wrote  him  that  he  had  never 
been  interested  in  foreign  missions  before,  but  would 
now  become  a  regular  giver,  thanking  him  warmly  for 
the  revelation  he  had  made  and  accompanying  his  thanks 
with  a  large  donation,  while  still  another  hearer  became 
from  that  time  one  of  the  most  generous  and  helpful 
friends  of  Korea. 

He  visited  Canada  on  an  invitation  to  address  a 
Student  Volunteer  convention  in  Toronto;  saw  and  con- 
ferred with  the  leaders  most  interested  in  missions,  and 
made  several  addresses. 

Certain  it  is  that  Dr.  Avison's  going  to  Korea  was  one 
fruit  of  Mr.  Underwood's  addresses  and  private  special 
pleas  at  that  time.  When  we  think  of  what  Dr.  Avison 
has  been  able  to  do  under  God  in  founding  the  Severance 
Hospital  and  Medical  College  and  the  church  in  con- 
nection with  them,  of  the  medical  books  prepared,  of 
the  strong  evangelistic  and  self-sacrificing  spirit  instilled 
in  the   students  and  young  doctors,  the  assistance  he 


114  Underwood  of  Korea 

has  given  to  every  missionary  institution  in  Korea,  but 
especially  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  of  vv'hich  he  was  president 
for  several  years,  we  can  rejoice  that  Mr.  Underwood 
was  sent  at  that  time  to  Canada.  We  can  rejoice,  too, 
that  the  illness  which  seemed  such  an  unmitigated  evil, 
taking  us  away  from  Korea  when  we  were  needed  so 
much,  forced  us  to  America  just  at  that  very  time  to 
bring  out  more  workers.  We  can  clearly  see  God's  hand 
in  it  all. 

Dr.  Avison  filled  to  a  great  extent  the  vacant  place 
left  by  Mr.  Davies.  He  was,  from  the  first,  Mr.  Under- 
wood's most  sympathetic  and  efficient  co-worker  and 
adviser,  who  stood  at  his  side  in  every  difficulty  and 
shared  his  cares  and  toils  through  twenty-three  years 
of  service. 

Dr.  Avison  gave  up  a  brilliant  professional  career, 
made  considerable  financial  sacrifices,  brought  out  quite 
a  family  of  children  to  unsanitary  surroundings,  and 
left  his  own  Methodist  denomination  to  take  up  work 
in  our  mission;  but  the  fruits  which  God  has  permitted 
him  to  see,  I  know,  have  more  than  repaid  him  for  all 
that  he  left  for  Christ's  sake.  He  will  probably  be  men- 
tioned often  in  this  book,  for  I  do  not  think  a  life  of  Mr. 
Underwood  could  be  written  with  either  his  brother, 
John  Underwood,  or  Dr.  Avison  left  out. 

In  the  summer  of  1891,  the  University  of  New  York 
conferred  on  Mr.  Underwood  the  degree  of  D.D. 
Highly  honored  and  pleased  as  a  child  though  he  was, 
to  receive  from  his  beloved  university  this  high  degree 
so  early  in  his  career,  he  gave  up  the  privilege  of  receiv- 
ing the  degree  in  person  because  an  important  occasion 
interfered   which  ofifered  him   the  chance  to  make  an 


A  Busy  Vacation  115 

address  for  Korea.  However,  on  his  return  to  the  uni- 
versity the  following  day,  he  had  a  pleasant  time  renew- 
ing old  college  and  fraternity  friendships  and  attending 
a  great  dinner  of  the  Delta  Upsilon  fraternity,  at  which 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  making  one  of  the  after-dinner 
speeches. 

During  his  stay  in  America  at  that  time,  he  was  offered 
a  partnership  in  his  brother's  business,  as  the  brother 
who  had  been  called  higher  was  greatly  missed,  and, 
to  compensate  for  the  loss  to  the  field,  several  mission- 
aries were  to  be  sent  out  in  his  place.  He  gave  very 
careful  consideration  to  this  offer,  for  it  was,  indeed, 
something  of  a  question  whether  he  could  do  more  for 
the  cause  at  the  home  end  of  the  line  or  the  other. 
"Surely,  you  do  not  think  you  are  worth  more  than 
several  others  who  would  go  in  your  place,"  was  the 
laughing  argument.  But  he  could  not  feel  that  it  would 
be  to  him  other  than  to  Paul:  **Woe  is  me  if  I  preach 
not  the  Gospel."  He  also  had  the  offer  of  a  call  to  one 
of  the  largest  and  wealthiest  churches  in  Brooklyn,  and 
a  third  offer,  the  presidency  of  a  young  ladies'  college. 

At  a  time  when  his  wife's  health  was  so  very  pre- 
carious that  it  was  not  certain  whether  they  could  live 
in  the  East  should  they  return,  a  weaker  man  or  one  of 
less  lofty  faith  would,  at  least,  have  hesitated  and  con- 
sidered some  of  those  offers,  which  all  opened  doors  for 
great  and  useful  service  in  God's  kingdom,  but  he  never 
hesitated  or  doubted  for  a  moment ;  his  heart  was  fixed ; 
his  call  and  his  work  was  there;  back  he  would  go,  sick 
wife  and  all. 

We  consulted  a  favorable  and  friendly  doctor,  who 
knew  no  more  about  Korea  than  an  infant  in  arms,  who 


116  Underwood  of  Korea 

told  him  he  saw  no  reason,  if  his  house  were  made 
sanitary  and  safe,  tight  and  dry,  why  his  wife  could  not 
live  there  as  well  as  in  America.  She  was  more  than 
ready  to  try  it  again,  and  would,  in  fact,  rather  have 
gone  out  there  to  die  than  to  have  kept  him  from  re- 
turning. So  his  brother,  who  was  always  ready  to  help, 
gave  him  enough  money  to  dig  a  cellar  under  his  house, 
to  put  a  new  roof  over  it,  to  put  in  bathrooms  and  hot 
water,  and  a  steam-heating  furnace  and  outfit. 

Little  cared  Dr.  Underwood  that  there  was  no 
plumber  or  furnace-man  in  all  Korea.  He  managed, 
though,  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  to  get  some  plumbers' 
tools,  in  spite  of  the  Plumbers'  Guild,  which  wrings  the 
most  awful  oaths  from  manufacturers  and  dealers  not 
to  sell  tools  to  anybody  but  a  proper  plumber.  He  quizzed 
the  furnace  dealers,  and  studied  the  books  and  catalogues 
of  furnaces  and  the  things  themselves  and  started  forth. 

Perhaps  I  might  as  well  tell  the  sequel  of  that  furnace 
story  right  here.  When  the  main  parts  of  it  had  been 
lugged  into  place  and  put  properly  together,  the  work 
was  only  just  begun.  The  steam-pipes  running  from  it 
to  the  radiators  in  different  parts  of  the  house  are  com- 
posed of  dozens  (I  was  about  to  say  hundreds)  of  little 
short,  metal  tubes,  with  elbows  some  on  one  end,  some 
another,  some  in  the  middle,  and  knees  in  equally  per- 
plexing variety,  promiscuity  and  number.  Dr.  Under- 
wood knew  this  and  adjured  the  makers  to  have  it 
all  arranged  (they  had  the  plan  of  the  house),  with 
each  piece  so  marked  and  numbered  (from  i  up)  that, 
when  he  took  them  out  of  the  box  they  were  packed  in, 
he  should  have  nothing  to  do  but  put  them  together 
according  to  the  signs  each  bore.     It  was  a  good  plan. 


A  Busy  Vacation  117 

but,  alas,  when  they  were  unpacked  in  Korea,  not  a 
single  sign  remained:  just  a  great  heap  of  little  odds 
and  ends  of  pipes  that  must  go  together  in  just  such 
a  particular  way  or  not  at  all.  He  was  staggered.  It 
was  predicted  all  over  Seoul  that  he  would  never  get 
that  furnace  together.  Folks  did  not  hesitate  to  dis- 
courage him  by  telling  him  so.  This  would  have  en- 
couraged him  had  he  needed  encouragement,  which  I 
doubt;  if  his  resolution  needed  any  goad,  which  is 
scarcely  likely,  this  would  have  supplied  what  was  want- 
ing. He  decided  that,  having  the  main  parts  together, 
the  logical  thing  would  be  to  begin  at  the  beginning, 
adding  the  pieces  one  by  one  that  seemed  to  fit,  and  so 
extend  the  lines  according  to  the  plan.  So,  with  a  clear 
head,  common  sense  and  his  plan  to  guide  him,  he  went 
at  his  worse  than  Chinese  puzzle  and  soon  had  his  fur- 
nace in  good  working  order,  with  nobody  to  help  him 
but  a  Japanese  tinsmith  who  had  never  done  any  plumb- 
ing or  pipe-laying  in  his  life.  People  seemed  unable  to 
believe  it  when  they  heard  the  furnace  was  up ;  it  seemed 
almost  like  a  miracle. 

But  to  return  to  America,  which  we  only  temporarily 
left,  to  finish  the  furnace  story.  He  traveled  and  spoke 
in  Boston,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Washington  and 
several  other  large  cities,  as  well  as  many  small  towns. 
His  brother  and  sisters  and  his  wife's  family  loaded  him 
and  his  wife  with  beautiful  and  useful  things  for  the 
home  as  the  time  of  departure  drew  near,  and  his  brother 
arranged  for  them  to  take  a  short  trip  through  Europe 
and  the  Holy  Land,  returning  to  Korea  by  way  of  the 
Red  Sea.  He  stopped  in  England  long  enough  to  once 
more  meet  his  uncles,  aunts  and  cousins;. he  conferred 


118  Underwood  of  Korea 

with  the  Bible  and  Tract  societies  and  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  spoke  in  several  churches  on  the 
open  door  in  Korea.  His  cousin,  Miss  Redpath,  was 
going  with  us  to  Korea  to  take  charge  of  our  little  son, 
in  order  to  lighten  my  hands  for  mission  work  or,  in 
case  I  were  too  ill  to  be  of  use  in  any  way,  as  it  was  still 
problematical  whether  I  could  live  at  all  out  there. 

On  our  return  journey  we  went  around  through  the 
Suez  Canal,  stopping  over  night  at  Port  Said,  then  down 
through  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  We  stopped 
one  day  at  Colombo,  where  we  had  an  experience  which 
displayed  Dr.  Underwood's  never-give-in-no-matter-what- 
happens  characteristic.  We  had  hired  one  of  the  little 
vehicles  which  are  called  "garries,"  after  carefully  in- 
quiring and  studying  the  rules  for  payment.  When 
we  had  made  a  few  purchases,  we  went  to  call  on  a 
missionary  and  then  started  back  to  the  boat,  none  too 
early,  for,  when  we  left  the  vehicle  and  offered  to  pay 
the  man  the  lawful  price,  he  refused  to  take  our  money 
and  demanded  an  outrageous  sum — no  doubt,  on  the 
strength  of  our  being  strangers  and  obliged  to  leave  at 
once.  He  was  a  tremendously  great,  sinewy  black;  I 
was  afraid  of  him  and,  besides,  we  had  not  much  time  to 
spare  for  dickering.  But  Dr.  Underwood  would  not  give 
in,  though  I  begged  him  to  pay  the  thief  what  he  asked. 
He  sent  me  on  board  and  told  the  man  they  would  go  to 
a  police  office  and  settle  the  matter,  though  at  the  risk 
of  losing  the  steamer.  The  man  knew  well  no  officers 
would  be  there  at  that  hour.  So  thither  they  Went,  in  vain, 
of  course.  The  streets  were  quite  as  empty  in  that  broil- 
ing place  at  noon  as  they  would  be  in  a  country  town  in 
America  at  two  in  the  morning,  and  the  black  now  as- 


A  Busy  Vacation  119 

sumed  a  belligerent,  threatening  attitude,  and  loudly 
demanded  the  money.  I  cannot  tell  what  might  have  hap- 
pened, for  I  am  sure  Dr.  Underwood  would  never  have 
yielded  up  one-half  cent  more  than  he  thought  was  right, 
unless  obliged  by  physical  force  to  do  so,  but  two  Dutch 
sailors  coming  along  just  then,  comprehended  the  only 
too  common  situation  at  a  glance,  did  everything  Dr. 
Underwood  needed  and  more,  for  strong  language  was 
thrown  in  to  boot,  and  made  short  work  of  the  driver. 
After  expressing  his  thanks  to  his  deliverers  as  best  he 
might,  the  young  missionary  hastened  back  to  the  boat 
barely  in  time  to  get  on  board  before  the  lifting  of  the 
anchor. 

We  landed  at  Shanghai,  where  we  had  to  take  another 
boat  for  Nagasaki,  Japan,  and  then  make  another  change 
for  Korea.  Of  course  the  China  missionaries  were  visited, 
their  work  looked  into,  their  experience  and  methods 
studied  as  fully  as  possible  in  the  brief  period  of  our 
necessary  stay.  We  felt  that  a  great  blessing  came  to 
us  from  being  in  touch  with  those  people,  so  self-sacri- 
ficing, so  devoted,  so  absolutely  untiring  and  unselfish. 
One  could  not  but  love  the  old  out-of-date  hats  and 
gowns  of  the  women,  the  plain,  poorly  furnished  homes 
resplendent  with  the  beauty  of  sacrifice,  the  self-denial 
and  loyalty  we  saw  (not  intentionally  displayed)  every- 
where, and  I  began  to  be  afraid  I  had  brought  out  too 
many  nice  things  from  home,  and  envied  these  noble 
people  their  grand  aloofness  from  things  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  VII 
BACK  HOME  IN  KOREA 

WHEN  we  reached  Seoul,  some  of  our  old  friends 
and  some  of  the  newcomers,  with  many 
Koreans,  came  to  the  landing  to  meet  us. 
There  were  no  trains  then  from  the  port  and  we  had 
to  go  up  the  river  in  a  little  boat.  Glad  was  Dr.  Under- 
wood to  see  the  white-robed  Koreans  again  and  glad 
to  see  the  new  missionaries,  most  of  whom  had  reached 
the  field  since  he  left  Korea,  as  physicians  had  ordered 
delay  in  return  on  account  of  his  wife's  health. 

As  our  own  house  was  to  be  repaired  and  almost 
rebuilt  immediately,  we  had  again  been  invited  to  the 
home  of  our  kind  friends,  the  Bunkers.  An  addition  had 
been  built  to  their  house,  so  they  had  a  nice,  large  room 
for  us,  but  still  had  to  screen  off  part  of  their  little  parlor 
for  a  sleeping  place  for  our  cousin.  Miss  Redpath.  They 
had  taken  the  greatest  pains  to  make  it  all  cozy  and 
comfortable,  and  welcomed  us  with  open  arms.  They 
had  never  expected  to  see  the  writer  return.  It  seemed 
to  us  that,  with  the  baby,  his  toys,  food,  clothes  and  Miss 
Redpath,  we  were  almost  claiming  the  whole  house,  but 
they  were  as  kind  as  though  we  were  not  in  the  least  in 
the  way. 

I    In   the   months   of   July   and    August,    we   went   to 

120 


Back  Home  in  Korea  121 

Chemulpo  to  be  near  the  sea  with  the  Httle  one,  who  was 
not  well.  It  is  not  an  attractive  port  and  we  were 
lodged  in  a  poor  Chinese  inn,  so  that,  as  a  summer  re- 
sort, it  could  scarcely  be  recommended.  Dr.  Underwood 
could  not  be  with  his  family  except  for  week-ends,  for 
he  was  obliged  to  remain  in  the  capital  to  oversee  the 
changes  being  made  in  our  home  and  to  carry  on  his 
other  work.  The  little  one  was  very  ill  all  summer, 
practically  starving  for  want  of  suitable  food,  and  often 
seeming  to  be  hovering  on  the  brink  of  death.  Dr. 
Underwood  was  so  hopeful  that  he  could  not  despair, 
but  he  could  not  avoid  heartaches  in  seeing  his  little  one 
suffer. 

As  has  been  said,  summers  are  always  hot,  humid 
and  unhealthy  in  the  city  of  Seoul,  but  he  worked  away 
quite  irrespective  of  rains,  heat,  smells  and  mosquitoes. 
His  principal  work  that  summer  was  that  of  compiling 
a  hymn-book.  He  had  made  a  beginnning  at  this  before 
he  went  to  America  and  on  leaving  gave  it  over  to  others 
in  the  hope  that  it  would  be  finished  before  his  return ; 
but,  when  he  arrived  on  the  field  after  two  years'  ab- 
sence, he  found  that  nothing  whatever  had  been  done 
with  it.  The  missions  had  decided  to  have  a  union 
hymn-book  and  Rev.  Mr.  Jones  of  the  Methodist  mission 
and  Dr.  Underwood  were  appointed  to  prepare  the  collec- 
tion. Mr.  Jones  was  away  and,  as  Dr.  Underwood  was 
urged  by  friends,  as  well  as  by  his  own  knowledge  of  the 
need  to  go  on  and  finish  the  book  as  quickly  as  possible, 
he  set  to  work  alone  with  his  usual  alacrity. 

Many  of  the  hymns  were  his  own  translations ;  many, 
however,  had  been  prepared  by  other  missionaries.  All 
needed  much  changing  because  of   faulty  Korean,  the 


122  Underwood  of  Korea 

errors  being  not  only  cases  of  bad  grammar,  but  of 
actual   wrong  sense,   such  as : 

''Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know, 
Oh,  Bible,  please  say  so." 
instead  of: 

For  the  Bible  tells  me  so. 

Some  of  the  hymns  had  been  translated  by  he  knew 
not  whom ;  others  who  had  contributed  were  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  city,  where  the  lack  of  means 
of  transit  made  communication  a  matter  of  weeks.  He 
could  not  well  take  time  to  consult  absent  authors  on 
trifling  changes.  So,  as  none  of  the  hymns  was  any- 
body's original  composition,  or  worth  claiming  in  itself 
as  a  literary  creation,  he  went  right  ahead,  cutting,  alter- 
ing, sometimes  combining,  changing  his  own  transla- 
tions, as  well  as  those  of  others,  feeling  sure  all  that 
was  wanted  by  any  one,  was  not  personal  credit,  but  a 
good  hymn-book.  He  was,  no  doubt,  technically  wrong: 
each  one  who  had  prepared  a  hymn  had  a  right  to  be 
consulted  and  given  credit  for  his  work,  even  though  it 
meant  delay  and  a  poorer  hymn-book.  Placing  no  great 
value  on  his  own  versions,  he  erred  in  underestimating 
the  importance  to  their  translators  of  the  text  of  these 
little  hymns. 

His  brother  had  advanced  the  money  to  pay  for  the 
publication  of  the  book,  and  all  summer  as  he  worked, 
he  glowed  with  the  thought  of  the  delightful  surprise 
he  would  have  ready  for  the  mission  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  the  fall :  a  beautiful  hymn-book  with  music !  No 
one  knew  that  he  intended  putting  through  the  work 
so  quickly  and  having  it  actually  published  for  the  an- 


Back  Home  in  Korea  123 

nual  meeting:  it  was  to  be  a  surprise,  a  gift  which 
would  please  them  all.  But,  while  he  was  at  work, 
showing  what  was  being  done,  and  asking  criticisms  on 
the  changes  he  was  making  from  those  who  were  able 
to  judge,  both  Korean  scholars  and  the  older  of  the 
missionaries  (where  all  were  new),  opposition  and  criti- 
cism were  aroused. 

The  way  in  which  translations  were  being  changed, 
and  the  fact  that  the  name  Hananim,  a  native  word  for 
God,  which  most  of  the  missionaries  preferred,  did  not 
appear,  caused  much  displeasure.  In  all  these  hymns 
as  he  prepared  them,  the  only  words  used  for  God  were 
''Jehovah"  and  "Father."  He  had  studiously  omitted 
both  the  name  "Hananim"  and  the  term  "Shin,"  about 
both  of  which  there  was  a  question,  because  he  believed 
a  union  hymn-book  should  be  such  as  would  suit  all. 
Using  only  "Father"  or  "Jehovah,"  to  which  no  one  could 
object,  he  would  give  them  a  hymn-book  that  would 
please  all. 

But  now,  after  the  work  had  been  done  and  the  proof 
sheets  were  in  Korea,  at  the  annual  meeting  in  October, 
the  mission  rejected  the  book.  In  vain,  he  tried  to  show 
the  just  intent,  the  purity  of  motive,  his  innocent  thought 
that  no  one  would  care  to  claim  authorship  of  such 
things  as  these,  simple  halting  translations,  his  wish  to 
make  the  book  acceptable  to  all  parties  on  the  term  ques- 
tion. It  was  all  to  no  purpose.  All  but  Dr.  Avison  and 
Mr.  Moore  were  displeased  at  his  publishing  the  book 
before  it  had  been  passed  upon  by  the  mission.  A  reso- 
lution was  therefore  passed  that  the  book  was  not  to  be 
adopted  or  used  by  the  mission,  another  hymn-book  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  and  a  new  hymn-book  was  to  be 


1£4  '  Underwood  of  Korea 

prepared  as  speedily  as  possible.  The  friends  with  whom 
we  were  staying  remarked  later,  on  the  contrast  between 
his  joyful  aspect  as  he  went  to  the  meeting  and  his 
crushed  appearance  on  his  return. 

Hurt,  sorry  and  disappointed  as  he  was,  Dr.  Under- 
wood's faith  and  hope  were  so  great  that  he  never  was 
long  discouraged ;  no  trouble  could  long  darken  that  sunny 
happy  nature.  Although  the  mission  as  such,  rejected 
the  hymn-book,  he  believed  the  w^ork  ought  not  to  be  en- 
tirely wasted,  and  had  an  edition  published,  which  was 
used  for  some  years  by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion, and  some  of  the  Methodists,  by  Mr.  Moore  and 
Dr.  Avison,  in  their  native  churches,  and  all  through 
Dr.  Underwood's  large  bishopric,  both  in  the  country 
and  the  city,  until  a  union  hymn-book  came  into  use 
among  the  native  churches,  when  he  stopped  publishing 
his  own. 

The  "term  question"  has  been  treated  at  some  length 
in  another  book,*  but  it  must  be  recalled  here,  for  it 
presented  an  exceedingly  difficult  problem  at  that  time. 
Throughout  China,  Japan  and  Korea  it  has  been  a  vexed 
question  among  missionaries  what  word  they  should 
teach  the  native  Christians  to  use  for  our  word  God. 
The  people  of  all  those  countries  have  some  name  for 
their  chief  deity.  But  many  missionaries  hold  that  the 
use  of  this  word  is  likely  to  lead  to  error,  since  the 
people  had  been  accustomed  not  only  to  worship  that 
particular  god,  but  at  the  same  time  many  other  gods. 
The  use  of  the  name  of  any  one  of  their  gods  implies 
the  possibility  of  other  deities,  but  a  generic  term  may 
be  so  used  as  to  exclude  all  others.  (Our  word  '*God" 
*  "Fifteen  Years  Among  the  Top-Knots." 


Back  Home  in  Korea  125 

is  really  not  so  much  a  natne  as  a  term.)  The  apostles 
found  the  Greeks  worshiping  Zeus  as  their  chief  god ;  if 
Paul  had  advised  them,  "Call  Jehovah  Zeus  if  you  like, 
but  really  Jehovah  is  the  only  God ;  He  is  different  from 
what  you  think  of  Zeus,  but  still  you  may  call  him  Zeus," 
he  would  have  done  what  our  missionaries  did  in  the 
case  of  the  term  "Hananim,"  the  usual  translation  of 
which  is  "The  Honorable  Heavens,"  Our  people  said: 
"The  Koreans  understand  the  word  'Hananim' ;  they 
worship  him  already;  we  have  only  to  teach  them  that 
he  is  the  one  and  only  God,  to  tell  them  what  his  at- 
tributes are,  and  it  will  all  be  easy."  The  Koreans  also 
liked  the  idea ;  they  knew  about  their  old  god,  Hananim ; 
it  was  easy  for  them  to  understand  that  he  must  receive 
supreme  worship,  and  that  all  other  gods  must  be  ignored. 
This  was  the  easy  solution  of  the  problem,  and  appar- 
ently it  has  worked  well,  but  in  my  judgment  it  is  not 
strictly  in  accord  with  scriptural  precept  or  example. 
"The  gods  of  the  heathen  are  idols,  but  Jehovah  made 
the  heavens."  When  the  first  apostles  preached  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Greeks,  they  took  the  common  generic 
term  for  any  god  whatever.  They  virtually  said,  "There 
is  but  one  god,  and  He  is  Jehovah,  who  made  all  things : 
the  only  one  of  all  the  gods  is  God."  This  course  has 
been  followed  by  many  missionaries  in  China. 

In  the  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Korean  languages  there 
are  no  capital  letters,  no  articles  by  which  one  can  say 
"the"  God;  there  must  be  a  specific  term  which  will 
designate  accurately  in  the  absence  of  these.  A  name 
other  than  His  own  seems  almost  an  insult  to  Jehovah. 
All  Roman  Catholics  and  a  large  minority  of  Protestants 
in  China,  all  missionaries  in  Japan  and  all  Anglicans  and 


126  Underwood  of  Korea 

Romanists  in  Korea  have  rejected  as  a  term  for  God 
the  local  name  for  the  chief  god  of  these  countries,  as 
"Hananim"  is  that  for  Korea,  and  selected  a  generic 
term  for  any  god  and  applied  it  as  the  term  for  Jehovah, 
the  one  and  only  true  God.  Among  the  heathen  of  early 
Bible  times  there  were  "lords  many  and  gods  many," 
but  the  Bible  missionaries  adopted  their  word  "theos," 
referring  to  any  god,  and  taught  them  to  use  it  for 
designating  the  one  true  god.  Such  was  Dr.  Under- 
wood's view  at  this  time.  For  a  while,  he  had  some 
Bibles,  hymn-books  and  tracts  published  with  the  term 
''Hananim"  left  out  and  another  substituted,  but  it  became 
increasingly  hard  to  have  this  done;  indeed  it  began  to 
seem  impossible  to  persist  in  his  view  if  he  were  to  remain 
in  the  mission.  Afterward,  light  came,  and  he  saw  that 
he  had  been  laboring  under  an  error.  In  delving  into 
books  on  Chinese  and  early  Korean  religions,  he  found 
that,  at  a  time  when  only  one  god  was  worshiped  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Kokurei  (part  of  early  Korea),  that  god 
was  called  Hananim;  the  word  was  a  descriptive  term, 
signifying  the  great  and  only  One.  This  was  different 
from  anything  he  had  hitherto  discovered  as  to  the 
Korean  understanding  of  their  use  of  the  word  "Hana- 
nim" ;  but  as  it  was  unquestionably  the  original  meaning 
of  the  word,  from  which  they  had  drifted  away.  Dr. 
Underwood  concluded  it  might  be  used  with  propriety 
with  this  meaning — that  its  original  sense  might  be  easily 
recalled  to  the  minds  of  the  Koreans.  In  the  light  of 
these  discoveries  he  felt  it  was  entirely  consistent  to  use 
the  word  he  had  form.erly  rejected,  and  he  did  so  the 
more  readily  because  he  found  there  were  serious  dif- 
ficulties attending  the  use  of  every  word  yet  proposed. 


Back  Home  in  Korea  127 

In  the  late  fall  and  early  winter  of  that  year,  a  small 
periodical  published  in  St.  Louis,  called  'Truth,"  came 
out  with  an  article  which,  after  describing  Dr.  Underwood 
in  an  unmistakable  way,  accused  him  of  overstating  and 
exaggerating  the  successes  in  Korea,  and  charged  further 
that  many  were  hurriedly  baptized  who  did  not  under- 
stand what  rite  they  were  undergoing,  and  citing  a  so- 
called  case  in  the  village  of  Sorai,  where  one  hundred 
people  were  said  to  have  been  suddenly  received  with- 
out preparation  or  examination,  not  even  being  asked 
to  remove  their  hats. 

As  Sorai  farmers  never  wear  hats  around  the  village, 
the  story  bore  the  stamp  of  a  great  mistake  at  first 
sight.  But  there  were  no  witnesses  of  what  Dr.  Under- 
wood had  really  done,  except  himself  and  Koreans  who 
could  not  write  for  the  paper,  and  so  this  slander  had 
to  go  unrefuted,  to  work  its  mischief  in  many  minds 
no  doubt  too  glad  to  believe  a  story  against  missions  and 
missionaries. 

Dr.  Underwood  was  much  disturbed  and  hurt  by  this, 
not  chiefly  because  it  affected  his  reputation,  but  because 
it  was  such  a  blow  to  missions  and  might  so  seriously 
shake  the  confidence  of  the  church  at  home  in  the 
Korean  work.  The  young  man  who  wrote  the  article 
had  been  mischievously  misinformed  by  an  evilly  dis- 
posed Korean  and  when,  some  years  later,  he  discovered 
his  error,  he  made  every  reparation  in  his  power,  even 
confessing  and  apologizing  in  the  pulpit  of  the  mission- 
aries' chapel  in  Seoul.  But  the  trouble  with  written  and 
printed  slanders  is  that  there  are  always  some  who  have 
seen  them  who  will  never  see  a  possible  refutation  and 


128  Underwood  of  Korea 

so  that  error  will  go  on  doing  its  deadly  work  through  all 
time. 

In  the  fall  of  1893,  Dr.  Underwood  moved  with  his 
family  into  the  half-finished  home,  where,  for  some 
weeks  in  late  fall  and  winter,  they  lived  more  like 
campers  in  a  tent  than  anything  else.  Some  of  the  walls 
were  still  only  wet  mud;  some  of  the  windows  had  as 
yet  no  glass  and,  as  a  consequence,  everybody  was  ill 
with  very  bad  colds,  and  my  rheumatism  was  almost  as 
severe  as  ever.  Circumstances  had  made  it  impossible, 
so  far  as  could  be  seen,  to  do  otherwise  than  try  to 
live  in  our  own  home,  unfinished  as  it  was.  Houses 
were  very  scarce,  none  to  be  rented  or  bought ;  no  hotels 
or  boarding-houses  with  open  doors.  However,  nothing 
more  than  temporary  illness  resulted. 

That  fall  the  Rev.  Mr.  McKenzie,  who  had  been  a 
missionary  in  Labrador,  arrived  in  Korea  and  came 
directly  to  Dr.  Underwood.  He  had  come  out  inde- 
pendent of  any  Board,  but  had  been  assisted  by  people 
interested  in  him  and  in  missions.  After  remaining  in 
Seoul  for  some  months,  he  went  to  the  village  of  Sorai, 
in  what  was  then  Dr.  Underwood's  diocese,  with  intro- 
ductions from  him  to  the  Koreans,  and  settled  down  to 
learn  the  language  and  to  live  Christ  among  the  simple 
country  people.  He  was  a  devoted  man  and  has  left 
an  undying  record  among  the  natives,  though  his  course 
was  a  short  one,  owing  to  preventable  mistakes  in  his 
mode  of  living,  like  too  many  other  noble  and  useful 
workers  lost  to  the  field  prematurely. 

This  saintly  missionary's  life  and  character  had  im- 
pressed the  Koreans  greatly ;  they  revered  his  self-denial, 
spirituality  and  faith,  and  the  little  company  of  Chris- 


Back  Home  in  Korea  129 

tians  added  to  their  number  till  there  was  scarcely  an 
unbelieving  household  left  in  t^^e  whole  village.  Then 
they  built  the  first  church  erected  by  native  Christians 
without  foreign  help.  Some  gave  timber,  some  gave  labor, 
even  women  and  children  contributmg  something.  When 
the  church  was  finished,  Mr.  McKenzie  sent  for  Dr. 
Underwood  to  come  and  dedicate  it,  but,  before  this  could 
be  done,  our  dear  friend  fell  ill  and  died  before  help 
could  reach  him.  Dr.  Underwood  was  requested  by 
the  English  Consulate  to  see  to  his  proper  burial,  secure 
his  effects,  and  learn  what  he  could  of  the  cause  of  his 
death.  The  sad  news  came  while  we  were  holding  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer  at  our  river  house  in  the 
middle  of  the  worst  part  of  the  rainy  season.  Dr.  Under- 
wood, however,  never  dallied  long  in  preparation :  drivers 
must  be  had ;  clothing,  food,  cooking-kit,  cot-bed  and  bed- 
ding, books  and  tracts  must  be  packed  for  an  absence  of 
three  weeks  at  least,  but  messengers  were  hurriedly  sent 
to  obtain  supplies,  and  before  night  he  had  started  with 
Dr.  Wells  on  his  sad  journey. 

Arrived  at  Sorai,  he  found  that  Mr.  McKenzie,  after 
much  suffering,  had  died  very  suddenly  and  had  been 
buried  with  all  honor  and  Christian  ceremony  not  far 
from  the  church.  He  also  found  a  very  pretty  little  church 
in  native  style  of  architecture,  built  on  a  little  eminence 
where  formerly  idols  were  worshiped:  a  church  built  of 
the  best  materials  the  Koreans  had  and  after  the  best 
fashion  they  knew.  He  found  also  a  goodly  company  of 
new  believers  waiting  to  be  examined  and  baptized,  the 
fruit  of  Mr.  McKenzie's  life  and  teaching.  So  it  was 
with  very  mixed  emotions  that  he  dedicated  the  church 
and  baptized  the  Christians  on  the  same  day  that  he  held 


130  Underwood  of  Korea 

a  memorial  service  for  our  friend.  Joy  in  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel  was  shadowed  by  great  sorrow  for  the  loss 
of  such  a  godly  man,  who,  he  had  hoped,  would  be  a 
leader  for  many  years. 

But  Mr.  McKenzie's  brief  life  and  his  sad  death  were 
far  from  being  without  influence.  The  Koreans  wrote 
to  the  Canadian  church,  from  which  Mr.  McKenzie  had 
come,  a  pleading  letter  for  more  missionaries,  which  Dr. 
Underwood  translated  and  sent  to  the  leaders  of  that 
church  in  East  Canada.  It  touched  their  hearts;  that 
lonely,  heroic  life  and  death  inspired  them.  Dr.  Grierson 
aroused  and  awakened  the  interest  of  many  in  a  series 
of  addresses  in  different  places  and  very  soon  the  Cana- 
dian  Presbyterian  Mission  to  Korea  was  established  and 
the  first  missionaries.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Grierson,  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Foote  and  Mr.  Duncan  MacRae  were  sent  out 
in  1898.  Dr.  Underwood  went  down  to  the  landing 
place  of  the  river  boat  to  meet  them  and  brought  them 
to  our  home  one  summer  evening.  Happy,  indeed,  was 
he  to  welcome  new  workers  to  the  field. 

Late  in  1893,  Dr.  Underwood  purchased  a  site  outside 
the  city  on  a  hillside  covered  with  trees  and  having  a  very 
good  Korean  house  on  it  for  a  place  where  outcast  sick 
might  be  sheltered  and  cared  for  by  doctors  or  nurses  of 
any  denomination.  This  was  the  first  non-denominational 
institution  in  Korea  except  the  Tract  and  Bible  Societies. 
It  was  not  uncommon  at  that  time  to  see  people  lying  by 
the  roadside  in  a  dying  condition,  sometimes  in  a  little  tent 
of  thatch,  sometimes  exposed  to  the  burning  heat  of  sum- 
mer or  the  freezing  winter  blasts  with  no  shelter  what- 
ever. They  were  usually  servants  or  strangers  whom 
householders  had  thrust  out  on  the  streets  when  they 


Back  Home  in  Korea  131 

were  supposed  to  be  afflicted  with  some  of  the  con- 
tagious fevers  which  Koreans  greatly  fear.  Dr.  Under- 
wood had  often  noted  this  with  profound  pity  and 
planned  to  raise  money  in  some  way  to  buy  or  build 
a  suitable  house  to  which  they  could  be  taken.  While 
he  was  in  America,  he  received  a  number  of  small 
sums  toward  this  object,  so  when  he  returned,  almost 
his  first  thought  was  to  obtain  this  place,  which  he 
called  The  Frederick  Underwood  SheUer,  in  memory 
of  the  brother  who  had  passed  away.  For  several  years, 
this  place  was  a  blessed  refuge  for  the  suffering,  until 
at  length  the  Government  took  cognizance  of  the  fact 
that  foreigners  were  caring  for  their  outcast  sick,  and 
stopped  the  heartless  custom  of  turning  them  out  of 
doors.  But,  although  there  were  fewer  of  such  to  be 
cared  for,  there  has  always  been  a  good  use  for  the 
Shelter,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

At  the  same  time  that  this  property  was  bought,  a  small 
lot  facing  on  a  main  thoroughfare  not  far  away  was  pur- 
chased at  an  astonishingly  low  price  and  a  small  dis- 
pensary was  erected  with  a  sum  put  in  our  hands  by 
Mrs.  Hugh  O'Neill  of  New  York  in  memory  of  her  only 
son,  and  called  The  Hugh  O'Neill  Dispensary.  Here 
for  years  the  writer  dispensed  drugs  and  held  women's 
Bible  cUsses,  and  here,  up  to  the  present  day,  week-day 
and  evening  prayer-meetings  are  held  and  Sabbath 
services  and  a  street  children's  Sunday  school,  which 
is  increasing  in  numbers  and  in  usefulness  every  year. 

Before  this  dispensary  was  purchased.  Dr.  Underwood 
had  been  on  the  point  of  buying  a  very  beautiful  and 
desirable  site  near  the  center  of  the  city,  which  seemed 
to  be  the  very  ideal  spot  to  reach  the  crowds,  where  a 


132  Underwood  of  Korea 

dispensary,  a  church  and  a  mission-residence  might  be 
built.  He  had  made  all  arrangements  and  was  on  the 
point  of  handing  over  the  money  and  receiving  the 
deeds,  when  a  letter  from  one  of  the  leaders  of  another 
mission  came,  asking  him  not  to  buy  there,  as  they  had 
a  site  for  a  church  and  school  across  the  street  and 
needed  this.  He  urged  that  for  the  Presbyterians  to 
buy  this  would  seriously  interfere  with  comity  be- 
tween the  missions.  Dr.  Underwood  saw  no  reason  why 
comity  should  suffer  by  our  being  so  near  each  other 
and,  as  he  had  long  before  set  his  heart  on  the  place, 
he  did  not  feel  inclined  to  yield.  However,  he  prayed 
over  it  very  earnestly  and  repeatedly  consulted  his  Bible 
and  concluded  that  the  right  thing  to  do  was  to  yield 
to  the  earnest  request  of  the  other  mission,  and  give 
up  the  site.  But  to-day  there  is  neither  mission  nor 
missionary  on  that  spot,  which  is  so  well  located  for 
such  a  purpose.  The  value  of  the  land  has,  however, 
risen  now  far  beyond  the  usual  purchasing  power  of 
missions  or  Boards,  but  the  immediate  result  of  his  action 
was  to  increase  the  feeling  of  gcod  will  and  brotherly 
confidence  between  the  two  missions. 

Events  crowded  very  closely  during  the  first  two  or 
three  years  after  Dr.  Underwood's  return.  Both 
Methodists  and  Presbyterians  had  made  a  beginning  of 
work  in  Pyeng  Yang,  but  very  serious  difficulties 
had  arisen  there:  the  sorceresses  and  devil-worshipers 
raised  fierce  opposiiion.  Dr.  Hall's  helper  and  the  man 
from  whom  he  bought  his  house  had  been  thrown  into 
jail;  Dr.  Moffett's  helper  was  also  arrested,  and  the 
former  owner  of  his  house  and  the  Christians  of  both 
missions  were  cruelly  beaten.    It  was  more  than  a  gentle 


Back  Home  in  Korea  133 

hint  that  our  room  was  better  than  our  company  in 
the  eyes  of  the  governor  and  residents  of  Pyeng  Yang. 
Dr.  Hall  managed  to  send  a  telegram  to  Seoul  and  a 
prayer-meeting  of  all  the  missionaries  v/as  at  once  called 
to  meet  at  Dr.  Underwood's  house.  Everybody  came,  but 
as  they  were  all  people  who  believed  in  working  as  well 
as  praying,  they  lost  no  time  in  securing,  through  the 
British  and  American  Legations,  an  order  from  the 
Korean  Government  to  the  governor  oi  Pyeng  Yang  to 
release  the  prisoners  and  pay  damages  for  injured 
property.  But,  after  this  was  sent,  the  natives  were  more 
cruelly  beaten  than  before  and  water-carriers  were  for- 
bidden to  carry  water  to  Dr.  Hall's  house,  which  was 
stoned,  the  mud  walls  surrounding  the  compound  being 
demolished.  The  imprisoned  Christians  stood  heroically 
by  their  faith,  though  they  were  removed  to  the  death- 
cell  and  received  word  that  they  were  to  be  executed. 
Two  despatches  had  been  received  from  Seoul  and 
still  there  were  no  signs  of  change.  We  all  feared 
much  for  Dr.  Hall  and  his  family  and  it  was  decided 
that  some  of  our  number  ought  to  go  to  Pyeng 
Yang  to  stand  by  him.  One  can  hardly  see  what  they 
could  have  done  except  to  "stand  by"  had  matters  come 
to  any  worse  crisis.  But  the  men,  yes,  even  the 
women,  could  not  bear  to  sit  safe  in  Seoul  while  a  mis- 
sionary brother  and  Korean  Christians  were  suffering, 
in  danger  of  their  lives,  up  there  in  the  country.  It  did 
not  seem  a  very  hospitable  place  to  visit  at  that  particu- 
lar time,  but  it  was  inviting  in  a  way.  Everybody 
wanted  to  go,  but  the  missionaries,  in  council,  decided 
that  only  men  without  families  must  take  the  risk.  So 
Dr.  Moffett,  who  belonged  there,  and  whose  converts 


134  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  house  were  involved,  and  Mr.  McKenzie,  at  that  time 

newly  arrived,  were  the  ones  who  were  judged  fittest  for 
that  honor.  It  took  five  days  to  reach  Pyeng  Yang  and, 
before  the  two  men  arrived,  the  Christians  had  been  re- 
leased, although  they  had  again  been  beaten  and  stoned. 
Though  our  men  in  Seoul  had  not  ceased  to  besiege  the 
Foreign  Office  for  measures  sufficiently  forcible  to  bring 
the  Governor  to  terms,  we  had  all  of  us  besought  the 
Highest  Power  for  deliverance,  and  we  knew  well  Whom 
to  thank  when  it  came. .  This  victory  made  the  people 
generally  realize  that  missionaries  were  their  friends 
and  that  behind  the  missionaries  was  a  Power  which 
could  overcome  even  magistrates  and  governors. 

It  is  rather  a  dangerous  thing  for  missionaries  to  have 
this  power,  and  more  so  for  natives  to  know  it,  for  it 
may  bring  a  great  many  insincere  persons  into  the  church 
whom  it  will  be  difficult  to  weed  out,  and  who  will  do 
much  harm  in  many  ways.  But,  while  there  is  no  doubt 
this  did  attract  many  and  opened  a  wide  door  for  work, 
our  missionaries  were  very  wise  and  careful  about  ex- 
amining and  admitting  applicants  and  very  wise  and 
careful,  too,  throughout  the  whole  mission  from  that 
time  on  about  using  any  influence  with  Korean  officials 
for  the  release  of  native  Christians  who  had  been  ar- 
rested or  were  in  prison.  Dr.  Underwood  repeatedly  told 
country  officials  whom  he  met,  that  he  and  all  of  us 
had  no  desire  to  have  any  law-breaker  shielded  because 
he  claimed  to  belong  to  the  Christian  church,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  we  would  wish  them  to  receive  just  pun- 
ishment. This  seemed  almost  necessary,  because  false 
believers  had  sometimes  claimed  immunity  on  the  ground 
of   being    Christians.      The    magistrates,    on    the    other 


Back  Home  in  Korea  135 

hand,  averred  repeatedly  that  the  best  people  they 
had  in  their  districts  were  Christians;  in  fact,  in  one 
district,  the  magistrate  said  that,  when  any  charge  was 
made  to  him  against  a  Christian,  he  never  bothered  to 
arrest  him,  but  simply  sent  a  message  that  he  would 
like  to  have  him  call  and  he  could  always  depend  on 
his  coming.  One  official  asked  to  see  the  Book  that  had 
worked  such  a  change  among  his  people,  and  one  man 
who  called  up  and  reproved  a  Christian  for  selling 
foreign  books,  was  persuaded  by  the  colporter  to  read 
them  and  see  if  they  were  as  bad  as  he  thought.  He 
did  so  and  returned  them  with  full  permission  to  sell 
all  he  liked. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
FATEFUL  DAYS  IN  KOREA 

IN  the  summer  of  1894,  the  Chino- Japanese  War 
began.  It  was,  as  most  people  know,  caused  by 
the  Chinese  sending  troops  to  Korea  to  assist  the 
Government  in  subjugating  bands  of  marauders  called 
"Tong  Haks,"  in  contravention  of  a  treaty  with  Japan 
that  neither  power  should  place  soldiers  in  Korea  without 
consent  of  the  other.  The  words  "Tong  Hak,"  meaning 
"Eastern  Learning,"  constituted  the  name  of  a  band  of 
men  avowedly  devoted  to  opposing  the  entrance  of  West- 
ern influence  into  Korea,  but  in  reality  the  Tong  Haks 
were  somewhat  like  the  Boxers  of  China  and  speedily 
drew  to  themselves  all  the  lawless  and  roughest  men  and 
held  the  whole  country  in  terror.  Their  motto  was: 
"Korea  for  the  Koreans" ;  they  levied  taxes  on  everybody, 
and  many  of  these  bands  differed  only  in  name  from  rob- 
bers and  cut-throats.  Taking  the  action  of  China  as  a 
casus  belli,  the  Japanese,  who  were  at  that  time  at  sword's 
point  with  Korea  over  various  matters,  sent  an  army  to 
Korea,  seized  the  palace  and  sank  a  transport  bringing 
Chinese  troops  to  Chemulpo.  Foreign  gun-boats  were 
sent  for  by  the  legations ;  marines  were  called  to  Seoul 
for  our  protection,  and  we  were  all  ordered  to  remain  in 
the  city  during  the  war.     It  was  a  very  hot,  unhealthy 

136 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  137 

summer  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  illness  among  the 
missionaries  shut  up  within  the  walls. 

When  the  Japanese  first  arrived  and  took  possession 
of  the  palace,  the  whole  population  of  the  city  seemed 
to  be  hurrying  in  one  mad,  wild  procession  away  to 
the  country,  anywhere,  only  to  get  away  from  the  foreign 
soldiers.  Dr.  Underwood  reassured  our  servants  and 
Christians  by  telling  them  that  he  had  no  idea  of  going 
away,  that  he  felt  no  fear  of  any  danger  for  them  or 
us  and  would  stand  by  them.  They  all  had  great  faith 
in  him  and  in  his  God  and  most  of  them  decided  to 
remain  with  us  in  the  city. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Junkin,  who  lived  some  distance  outside 
the  gates,  came  in  and  stayed  with  us  that  summer.  Their 
little  one  died  in  the  fall,  one  of  the  victims  of  those  hot 
weeks  in  the  city.  Dr.  Underwood  and  our  little  son 
were  both  ill  all  summer;  so  were  two  or  three  of  the 
Avisons,  two  of  the  Aliens,  two  of  the  Appenzellers ;  fever 
prostrated  the  Scranton  children.  Dr.  Hall  had  gone 
to  Pyeng  Yang  after  the  defeat  of  the  Chinese  in  that 
city,  but  returned  in  the  fall,  dying  with  typhus  fever. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Vinton's  baby  died  during  the  summer. 

During  the  worst  heat  we  went  every  day  to  the  com- 
paratively cool  and  breezy  Frederick  Underwood  Shelter, 
where  we  had  a  tent  on  the  hill-top.  Dr.  Underwood  was 
carried  there  and  back  in  a  sedan  chair.  He  was  really 
too  ill  to  be  carried  about,  but  it  seemed  the  less  of  two 
evils:  the  heat  was  so  extreme  and  the  air  so  very  bad 
in  our  home  within  the  city  walls.  The  sick  Avison  chil- 
dren and  the  Vintons  also  took  advantage  of  the  Shelter 
for  a  while  at  that  time. 

In  the  meantime,  Dr.  Underwood  had  an  opportunity 


138  Underwood  of  Korea 

to  purchase  a  very  beautiful  site  for  a  summer  home 
on  a  hill  by  the  Han  River  for  what  would  be  in 
America  an  absurdly  low  price:  only  $75.00.  This  he 
shared  with  Dr.  Avison  and  Rev.  F.  S.  Miller,  each 
purchasing  one-third,  and  each  built  a  small  bungalow 
there,  where  for  a  good  many  summers  the  families 
found  refuge  from  the  unsanitary  conditions  within  the 
walls.  It  was  only  four  and  one-half  miles  from  the 
city  and  Dr.  Underwood  kept  up  his  church  services  on 
Sundays,  saw  many  of  his  workers  at  the  cottage,  and 
carried  on  his  Bible  translation  there  all  summer,  rising 
at  dawn  and  working  up  to  half  past  four  or  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  That  was  the  children's  hour,  when 
they  all  came  clamoring  for  Dr.  Underwood  to  take 
them  down  to  the  river  to  bathe.  Then,  his  books  laid 
aside,  he  would  become  a  little  boy,  don  his  bathing- 
suit  and  play  in  the  water  with  the  little  ones,  after 
which  everybody  must  come  to  his  porch  or  the  pretty 
spot  on  the  bluff  near  it  and  have  tea  and  ginger- 
bread or  cookies.  In  the  evenings,  he  or  one  of  the 
others  often  hired  one  of  the  flat-bottomed  Korean 
boats  used  for  ferriage  or  fishing,  and  all  the  families 
and  their  friends  piled  in  with  plenty  of  wraps,  a  violin 
or  so,  and  no  lack  of  refreshments.  We  would  spend  a 
long,  moonlight  evening  on  the  river,  singing  songs  and 
telling  stories,  so  lightening  the  burden  of  the  long  and 
difficult  summers. 

Missionaries  seldom  itinerated  at  this  time  of  year, 
because  of  the  delays  and  difficulties  due  to  continuous 
heavy  rains. 

Such  a  country  trip  as  he  had  taken  to  Sorai  at  the 
time   of   Mr.    McKenzie's   death   in   the   midst  of   the 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  139 

rainy  season  was  full  of  risk  and  danger;  fevers  and 
dysentery,  especially,  are  very  prevalent ;  men  travel  all 
day   m   wet   clothing,   are   exhausted   by   the   heat   and 
humidity  and  are  laid  low  with  meningitis  or  sun-stroke. 
More  than  once,  on  similar  trips,  Dr.  Underwood  had 
been  forced  to  wade  to  his  neck  in  streams  so  swift  he 
barely  kept  his  footing,  and,  when  drenched  to  the  skin, 
his  baggage  soaked  through,  without  a  dry  garment  to  put 
on,  he  had  sought  in  vain  for  an  inn  for  hours,  and  at  that 
time,  as  his  return  had  been  much  delayed,  his  family 
had  the  greatest  reason  to  fear  some  mishap  had  oc- 
curred, especially  as  the  country  was  in  a  very  unsettled 
state  and  roving  bands  of   Tong  Haks  might  be  met 
any  day  and  especially  any  dark  night.     However,  he 
seemed  to  lead  a  charmed  life  and  returned  just  as  his 
distressed  wife  was  prepared  to  set  out  in  search  of  him. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  as  well,  while  on  the  subject  of 
this    country    itinerating,    to    say   that    Dr.    Underwood 
always  had  a  number  of  very  efficient  native  helpers, 
although  the  rule  of  the  mission  was,  as  has  been  already 
said,  that  even  the  men  with  the  largest  constituency  of 
Christians  could  not  have  more  than  two  helpers  paid  with 
mission  money.     However,  though  few,  if  any,  of  the 
native  churches  had  paid  pastors  at  that  time,  some  of 
them,  indeed  many,  as  time  passed  on,  employed  evangel- 
ists or  school  teachers  who  were  paid  in  rice  or  given  the 
use  of  fields  or  a  house,  and  those  men  would  carry  the 
Gospel  story  out  among  the  heathen.     For  such  leaders, 
classes  such  as  were  spoken  of  in  a  previous  chapter,  were 
held  in  both  city  and  country  for  instruction  in  the  Bible 
and  its  doctrines,  and  many  of  those  who  were  not  leaders 


140  Underwood  of  Korea 

would  walk  long  distances,  fifty  miles  or  more,  bringing 
their  own  food,  to  attend  those  classes. 

Besides  those  regular  helpers  and  leaders,  Dr.  Under- 
wood had  a  good  many  others  who  gave  part  time,  a  num- 
ber of  young  men  glad  and  proud  to  serve  on  a  special 
mission  here  or  there.  The  Young  Men's  Missionary 
Society  was  organized  for  systematic  Gospel  work  and 
each  week  would  visit  some  village  distributing  tracts, 
or  preaching.  He  early  adopted  the  Methodist  system 
of  class  meetings  and  the  class  leaders  met  with  him 
once  a  week  to  report  on  the  classes  and  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  members.  Those  men  and  the  country 
leaders  were  always  at  his  disposal  for  work  in  their 
own  vicinity.  Some  who  had  families  and  could  not 
otherwise  afford  to  spend  much  unpaid  time  in  the  work 
were  helped  not  directly  with  money,  but  were  put  in 
charge  of  some  little  book-shop,  where  they  received  a 
percentage  for  the  books  sold ;  others  secured  a  home  by 
taking  charge  of  some  little  preaching  station,  chapel  or 
dispensary ;  some  sold  quinine,  and  so  paid  their  expenses. 

It  has  been  noted  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  in- 
termittent and  other  kinds  of  fever  in  Korea,  and  the 
natives  very  early  found  the  value  of  quinine  for  such 
and  were  willing  to  pay  a  good  price  for  it.  We  found 
that  a  great  deal  of  very  poor  stuff  was  being  sold  at 
very  high  prices  and  it  occurred  to  Dr.  Underwood  that 
he  could  help  the  people,  help  our  Christian  workers, 
and  by  so  doing  advance  the  cause  of  Christ  by  pro- 
viding a  first  class  article  at  a  reasonable  price.  So 
he  corresponded  with  the  most  reliable  American  whole- 
sale drug  firms,  and  obtained  bottom  prices  for  quinine 
in  large  orders.    Each  bottle  was  wrapped  in  a  neat  tract 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  141 

printed  in  America  after  the  pattern  of  one  designed 
by  Dr.  Underwood  in  Korea.  This  stated  that  though 
the  quinine  was  good  for  certain  diseases  of  the  body,  it 
could  not  cure  those  of  the  soul ;  but  there  was  a  medicine 
which  could  save  a  man's  soul;  the  reader  was  then 
directed  in  a  few  words  to  the  way  of  Life  and  urged  to 
call  upon  a  missionary,  to  visit  the  nearest  church  and  to 
read  the  Book  of  Life.  The  quinine  was  then  given  to 
the  most  earnest,  intelligent  and  best  trained  colporters 
to  sell ;  a  percentage  of  the  money  received  was  to  be 
their  wage  for  service  given ;  they  were  to  pass  on  the 
Gospel  message  and  sell  books  and  tracts.  The  quinine 
soon  came  to  be  famous  for  its  good  work ;  the  sales  were 
very  large,  and  Dr.  Underwood,  after  a  year  or  so, 
found  that  to  give  attention  to  so  much  of  a  business 
was  becoming  too  costly  in  time  and  effort ;  that  business 
firms  were  becoming  jealous  of  missionaries  mixing  in 
commercial  matters,  and  also  that  some  of  his  young 
men  were  becoming  tempted  to  worldliness  and  love  of 
money  through  the  profits  they  were  making.  So  he 
reluctantly  decided  to  give  it  up.  But  these  little  tracts 
went  far  and  wide  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Korea,  and  good  men  had  thus  been  able  to  spend  weeks 
and  months  traveling  among  the  villages  and  little  towns 
spreading  the  news  of  salvation. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  spring  of  1895,  the  Sai  Mon  An 
church  under  Dr.  Underwood's  care  had  found  they 
needed  a  larger  house  in  which  to  worship,  the  little  mis- 
sion guest-house  they  had  used  being  now  too  small.  The 
Christians  were  all  poor :  teachers,  carpenters,  merchants, 
farmers,  policemen,  interpreters;  none  of  them  earned 
much  over  five  dollars  a  month  and  the  missionaries  ex- 


142  Underwood  of  Korea 

pected  to  raise  most  of  the  two  thousand  dollars  which 
was  thought  necessary  to  put  up  the  building,  and  let  the 
natives  give  as  much  as  they  could.  When  urging  them 
to  give,  Dr.  Underwood  had  been  met  with  the  objec- 
tion that,  this  being  called  a  foreign  religion,  it  was 
hard  to  see  why  foreigners  should  not  pay  its  ex- 
penses. He  replied:  *'It  will  continue  to  be  called  so 
as  long  as  you  allow  foreign  money  to  be  used  in  carry- 
ing it  on;  when  you  build  your  own  churches,  send  out 
your  own  evangelists,  support  your  own  schools,  then 
both  you  and  others  will  feel  it  is  not  a  foreign  affair, 
but  your  own.'*  After  hearing  this,  the  people  concluded 
that,  since  this  was  the  case,  they  would  build  their 
own  church.  But,  said  Dr.  Underwood,  astonished: 
"How  is  that  possible?  You  are  too  poor."  "Can  we 
say  that  anything  is  impossible  with  God?"  replied  the 
men  of  faith.  The  pastor  had  nothing  more  to  say  and 
the  people  went  bravely  to  work,  carpenters  giving  alter- 
nate days  of  free  labor,  some  of  the  educated  class,  who 
had  never  done  manual  work,  working  as  unskilled  help- 
ers in  the  building,  even  boys  doing  their  share. 

But,  with  the  church  still  unfinished,  and  sorely  needed 
funds  still  wanting,  extremely  hot  weather  came  and 
with  it  a  terrible  scourge  of  cholera.  The  government 
gave  the  use  of  a  large,  old  barracks  building  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  for  a  cholera  hospital,  and  Dr. 
Avison  was  placed  in  charge,  with  a  corps  of  missionary 
workers,  of  whom  there  were  by  that  time  a  considerable 
number.  The  Shelter  was  also  turned  into  a  cholera  hos- 
pital, with  Dr.  Wells,  Dr.  Underwood  and  his  wife  in 
charge.  The  native  Christians  of  Dr.  Underwood's  church 
consented  to  give  their  services  as  nurses,  and  he  threw 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  143 

all  his  knowledge  into  fitting  this  place  up  with  every 
medicine  and  appliance  which  could  be  of  any  use. 
He  did  not  know  whence  the  money  was  to  come,  though, 
no  doubt,  he  could  make  a  fair  guess,  but  he  spent 
freely,  sending  to  Shanghai  and  Japan  for  salol,  keeping 
plenty  of  ice  on  hand  to  take  the  place  of  water  the 
poor,  thirsty  souls  cried  for,  while  wine,  camphor,  stimu- 
lants, etc.,  were  provided.  He  worked  almost  night  and 
day.  He  was  given  charge  of  inspection  offices  in  a 
number  of  districts  of  the  city,  and  all  cases  reported  at 
those  offices  received  immediate  attention.  Sick  people 
were  brought  to  the  hospital  or  treated  at  home  and 
houses  and  premises  were  disinfected. 

A  number  of  young  Christians  were  trained  by  him 
to  carry  on  this  work,  teaching  Christian  helpers  in 
villages  how  to  purify  and  disinfect  their  houses  and 
how  to  administer  first  aid.  Each  worker  wore  a  red 
cross  and  this  sign  became  well  known  all  over  the  city 
and  suburbs  as  the  symbol  of  salvation,  love  and  mercy. 
The  young  men  worked  with  admirable  courage,  in- 
telligence and  efficiency.  Dr.  Underwood  usually 
seemed  able  to  inspire  his  helpers  with  those  qualities  or 
else  to  select  men  who  already  had  them  lying  dormant. 

We  had  frequently  remarked  that  Koreans  seemed 
capable  of  a  high  degree  of  development  in  most  worth- 
while things.  And  they  are  like  the  Chinese  too:  imi- 
tative of  the  ways  and  spirit  of  Westerners  with  whom 
they  are  associated.  There  was  a  very  high  percentage 
of  recoveries  at  the  Shelter,  where  patients  could  be 
placed  on  warm  floors,  which  had  a  wonderful  effect  in 
overcoming  chill  and  collapse. 

The  Government  was  pleased  to  notice  what  mission- 


144  Underwood  of  Korea 

aries  had  done  and  sent  a  letter  of  thanks  through  the 
American  Minister*;  they  also  paid  for  the  medicines, 
etc.,  that  had  been  used,  and  insisted  on  paying  the 
Christians  generally  for  their  service  in  the  wards;  to 
the  missionaries  who  had  taken  part  in  caring  for  the 
sick  were  sent  silver  ink-pots  marked  with  the  name  of 
the  Home  Office  and  the  Korean  national  plum  blossom 
and  the  sign  of  the  Cross ;  there  were  also  rolls  of  native 
silk  and  the  curious  Kang  Wha  inlaid  reed  mats,  which 
also  bore  the  sign  of  our  dear  blood-red  Cross  at  one  and 
and  the  name  of  the  Home  Office  at  the  other. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  plague,  the  Government 
had  signs  posted  on  the  city  gates:  ''Why  do  you  die 
when  you  can  go  to  the  Jesus  Hospital  and  Uve?"  So 
the  cholera,  at  least,  brought  the  whole  city  and  suburbs 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  Christ  and  of  the 
character  of  His  Gospel,  while  many  were  brought  to  a 
saving  knowledge  of  the  Truth. 

One  morning,  as  Dr.  Underwood  was  hurrying  to  the 
hospital  before  dawn,  a  coolie  at  the  roadside  was  heard 

♦  "Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

504th  Year,  the  7th  Moon,  the  3rd  Day, 
August  22nd,  1895. 
"Kim,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

To  Mr.  Sill,  United  States  Minister. 
Sir: 

I  have  the  honor  to  say  that  my  Government  is  deeply 
grateful  to  Dr.  H.  G.  Underwood  and  his  friends  who  have 
spent  a  great  deal  of  money  for  medicines  and  labor  in  the 
management  of  cholera,  resulting  in  the  cure  of  many  sick 
people.  I  trust  Your  Excellency  will  kindly  convey  an 
expression  of  thanks  to  them  on  behalf  of  my  Government. 
I  am,  etc.,  etc., 

(Signed)     Kim  Yun  Sik.'' 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  145 

to  ask  a  group  of  others :  "Who  is  this  foreigner  rushing 
through  the  streets  at  such  an  hour  and  in  such  haste?" 
"Why,  that  is  the  Jesus  man  who  works  day  and  night 
caring  for  the  sick  because  he  loves  us  so,"  was  the 
reply.  The  old  lady  at  Pompton  was  not  so  far  wrong 
when  she  said  "He  would  love  them  into  the  Kingdom." 

One  spectator  who  hung  about  hoping  to  get  a  job 
or  find  some  way  to  get  money  from  these  foreigners 
was  so  impressed  with  what  seemed  their  wonderful 
love  for  his  people,  "more,"  said  he,  "than  we  would 
show  for  each  other,"  that  he  became  truly  converted 
and  went  off  down  the  river  to  try  to  save  others.  Of 
him,  more  later. 

One  direct  result  of  the  cholera  scourge,  or,  at  least, 
of  the  Christians'  behavior  in  it,  was  that  the  Sai  Mon 
An  Christians  found  themselves  suddenly  in  possession 
of  more  money  than  they  had  ever  dreamed  of  having  at 
one  time,  and  without  a  word  of  suggestion  from  any  one, 
they  all  seemed  to  think  the  one  thing  to  do  with  it 
was  to  put  it  into  the  new  church.  There  is  nothing  they 
love  to  do  better  than  to  give,  and  here  was  a  great 
opportunity.  Many  of  them  were,  as  I  said,  far  from 
even  a  competency,  most  of  them  living  in  a  kind  of 
hand-to-mouth  way,  yet  they  never  dreamed  of  spending 
that  money  on  themselves.  To  give  it  for  the  church  was, 
according  to  their  idea,  the  best  way  to  spend  it.  So  the 
church  was  soon  finished  in  the  best  native  style,  with  a 
good  tiled  roof  and  everything  as  nice  as  could  be  wished. 

During  the  previous  winter  (of  1894  and  1895),  the 
Queen  had  invited  the  writer  on  several  occasions  to  the 
palace,  sometimes  telling  her  to  invite  her  friends  to 
skate  on  the  ponds   in   the   palace  grounds,   when  tea 


146  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  cakes  were  served  by  her  order  in  one  of  the  many 
summer-houses  there.  She  certainly  was  most  conde- 
scending and  gracious  to  us  all.  We  learned  to  admire 
and  respect  her  greatly,  and  rejoiced  in  more  than  one 
opportunity  to  tell  her  the  Gospel  message,  in  which 
she  seemed  greatly  interested,  repeating  it  to  His 
Majesty  and  their  son.  A  Christmas  tree  was  dressed 
for  them  and  the  Christmas  story  told.  On  New  Year's 
Day,  a  present  of  three  hundred  dollars  was  sent  by  her, 
besides  the  usual  gifts  of  pheasants,  eggs,  etc.,  with  the  re- 
quest that  Mrs.  Underwood  spend  it  for  pearls  for  herself, 
and  for  a  present  for  her  little  son.  The  child  had  been 
sent  for  by  the  Queen,  who  was  very  fond  of  children, 
and  had  been  petted  and  caressed  by  Their  Majesties* 
and  sent  home  with  a  long  procession  of  stately  palace 
servants  in  livery,  each  carrying  a  tray  of  nuts,  fruits, 
cakes  or  candies  on  his  head  and  a  wonderful  silk 
lantern  in  his  hand.  As  a  result,  the  school-boys  feasted 
well. 

In  the  spring  of  1895,  the  prime  minister  came  from 
the  Queen,  saying  that  she  desired  Dr.  Underwood  to 
draw  up  plans  and  estimates  for  a  school  for  the  sons 
of  the  nobility.  A  site  had  been  selected  between  the 
west  and  east  palaces.  Her  Majesty  proposed  to  build 
houses  for  American  teachers,  whom  Dr.  Underwood 
was  to  select  and  recommend.  The  Queen  was  prepared 
to  give  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  buildings  and  from 
twenty  to  thirty  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  running 
expenses.  Dr.  Underwood's  delight  was  great  over  this 
unexpected  offer,  practically  throwing  the  young  no- 
bility into  the  arms  of  the  Christian  church.  He  drew 
*  "Fifteen  Years  Among  the  Top-Knots." 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  147 

up  the  first  plans  and  estimates  and  sent  them  to  the 
palace  for  approval.  These  were  returned  with  sugges- 
tions. Amended  plans  were  prepared  and  were  shortly 
to  be  sent  for  Her  Majesty's  final  perusal,  when  she  was 
suddenly  killed*  and  a  long  period  of  political  upheaval 
followed. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  Queen,  great  confusion 
and  panic  took  place  among  the  hundreds  of  the  dwellers 
within  the  palace  walls;  all  rushed  in  a  state  of  wildest 
excitement  to  the  legations  and  the  homes  of  other  for- 
eigners, hoping  to  find  a  place  of  safety.  The  King  was 
a  prisoner  in  the  palace  in  the  hands  of  the  party  who 
had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  effecting  the  Queen's 
death,  especially  the  former  regent,  the  Tai  Won  Kun, 
who,  as  previously  explained,  was  the  King's  father  and 
had  been  her  bitter  enemy.  The  King  was  greatly  pros- 
trated by  the  shock,  hourly  expecting  that  he  would  be  the 
next  victim.  The  Russian,  EngHsh,  French  and  American 
ministers  visited  him  daily,  for  they,  too,  feared  for 
his  life  and  were  anxious  to  give  him  what  encourage- 
ment and  help  were  possible ;  their  warships  were  in  the 
harbor  and  they  were  prepared  to  go  to  great  lengths 
to  relieve  the  difficult  situation. 

Dr.  Underwood  was  asked  to  act  as  interpreter  for  the 
American  Minister  and,  incidentally,  he  often  served  the 
Russian  and  English  officials  in  the  same  capacity,  while 
the  French  bishop  did  the  same  for  the  representative  of 
France. 

As  the  royal  prisoner  was  suspicious  of  all  food  pre- 
pared in  the  palace,  it  was  taken  to  him  on  alternate  days 
from  the  Russian  Legation  and  from  Dr.  Underwood's 
*  "Fifteen  Years  Among  the  Top-Knots." 


148  Underwood  of  Korea 

house.  It  was  placed  in  a  large  tin  cash-box  furnished 
with  a  Yale  lock,  the  key  of  which  was  handed  directly  to 
the  King  by  Dr.  Underwood.  For  some  seven  weeks,  two 
foreigners  remained  on  guard  near  His  Majesty  each 
night,  as  it  was  thought  by  the  various  ministers  that 
the  presence  of  witnesses  might  serve  to  prevent  an  at- 
tempted injury  to  his  person.  Dr  Underwood  was  fre- 
quently one  of  those  midnight  guards. 

The  whole  foreign  community,  all  of  whom  had  re- 
ceived many  tokens  of  kindness  and  favor  from  Their 
Majesties,  were  filled  with  sympathy  for  the  distressed 
King  and  anxious  to  show  their  good  will  in  every 
way  possible.  In  the  meanwhile,  a  great  deal  of  trying, 
torturing  and  executing  was  going  on  in  a  supposed 
attempt  to  find  those  who  had  brought  about  the 
Queen's  death.  Very  vexing  new  sumptuary  laws  were 
also  being  made,  said  to  be  for  the  furthering  of  prog- 
ress; no  more  large  sleeves  or  long  pipes  must  be  used; 
women  must  go  with  uncovered  faces;  men  must  make 
narrower  the  brims  of  their  hats.  There  was  much 
excitement  and  anger,  both  in  city  and  country,  over 
these  interferences  with  personal  liberty  and  age-long 
custom,  and  many  were  the  Koreans,  both  high  and  low, 
who  came  to  Dr.  Underwood  with  their  problems. 
Among  other  more  or  less  useless  and  harmful  new  laws 
was  one  which  struck  at  the  very  heart  of  the  people's 
most  cherished  ancestral  traditions,  the  wearing  of  the 
top-knot.  The  hair  is  only  done  up  in  this  way  at 
marriage,  only  Buddhist  priests,  the  lowest  class,  having 
their  hair  cut  off.  So  this  rule  was  followed  by  general 
mourning,  weeping,  riots  and  insurrections  all  over  the 
country. 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  149 

One  night,  General  Yun,  an  old  and  loyal  adherent  of 
the  King,  came  with  a  friend  asking  permission  to  have 
a  little  conversation  together  in  our  house.  Dr.  Under- 
wood consented  but  took  no  part  and  heard  nothing 
of  their  talk.  On  the  following  afternoon  Dr.  Avison 
came  to  Dr.  Underwood  with  the  news  which  he  had 
just  heard:  that  a  party  of  royalists  was  to  make  an 
attack  that  night  on  the  palace  to  rescue  His  Majesty 
and  carry  him  to  a  place  of  safety.  Dr.  Underwood 
believed  this  must  be  a  false  report,  as  he  had  heard 
nothing  of  it.  While  the  two  were  discussing  this,  the 
secretary  of  the  American  Legation  came  in  and  said 
they  had  authoritative  information  that  such  an  attack 
was  to  take  place  that  night  and  that,  though  American 
officials  were  not  permitted  to  be  mixed  up  in  such  affairs, 
they  would  be  glad  if  one  or  two  American  citizens 
would  go  early  to  the  palace  and  remain  with  the  King 
to  lessen  the  likelihood  of  his  enemies  putting  an  end  to 
his  life  when  they  found  an  attempt  being  made  to  re- 
move him  from  their  custody.  This  they  would  be  the 
more  likely  to  do  if  no  one  was  there  to  witness  their 
deed,  as  they  could  then  lay  the  censure  of  his  death 
on  others.  As  Dr.  Avison  had  received  a  request  from 
the  King  to  visit  him  professionally,  it  was  decided  that 
Dr.  Underwood  and  he  should  be  the  attendants  at  the 
palace  that  night.  As  the  palace  gates  would  be  already 
closed  and  locked,  the  American  Minister,  Mr.  Sill,  gave 
Dr.  Underwood  his  card  in  the  hope  that  it  might  help 
them  in  case  there  was  any  disinclination  on  the  part 
of  the  guards  to  admit  them.  This  proved  to  have  been 
a  very  wise  provision,  as  the  guards  did  not  at  first  feel 
free  to  open  the  gates.    They  changed  their  minds,  how- 


150  Underwood  of  Korea 

ever,  when  they  saw  that  these  men  had  been  sent  by 
the  American  Minister.  Mr.  Hulbert  had  heard  in  the 
evening  that  Drs.  Underwood  and  Avison  were  to  go 
to  the  palace,  and  decided  to  accompany  them,  but  arrived 
at  the  gates  after  they  had  been  again  closed.  He  was 
able  to  convince  the  guards  that  he  belonged  to  the  same 
party,  and  so. they  admitted  him  also.  Three  foreigners 
were  there  that  night,  in  addition  to  the  American  Army 
officers  who  were  engaged  in  training  the  palace  guards. 
Dr.  Underwood  accompanied  Dr.  Avison  on  his  profes- 
sional visit  to  His  Majesty,  after  which  they  both  retired 
to  the  quarters  of  the  American  officers  to  await  develop- 
ments. 

As  all  was  then  quiet,  the  three  men  thought  they 
had  better  get  what  rest  they  might,  but  shortly  after 
twelve,  they  heard  the  report  of  a  gun  and  all  started 
to  their  feet.  Dr.  Underwood,  followed  by  the  other 
two,  at  once  ran  to  the  royal  quarters.  A  line  of  soldiers 
was  drawn  up,  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  along  the 
path,  who  called  "Halt"  sharply  as  he  approached,  but, 
having  no  time  to  attend  to  them,  he  ran  swiftly  past 
and,  before  they  realized  or  could  decide  what  to  do. 
Dr.  Avison  and  Mr.  Hulbert  had  followed.  At  the  door 
just  behind  stood  a  couple  ot  officers  with  drawn  swords 
crossed.  Dr.  Underwood  struck  the  swords  up  with 
his  revolver  and  rushed  through,  the  other  two  entering 
just  behind  him,  and  heard  the  King  calling :  "Where  are 
the  foreigners?  Where  are  the  foreigners?"  They 
laughed  afterward  when  they  told  of  the  chills  which 
shook  them  when  they  found  themselves  past  the  guard, 
ascribing  it  to  the  cold  night  and  the  fact  that  they  had 
forgotten  their  coats ;  though  well  they  knew  that  nervous 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  151 

excitement  more  than  biting  night  air  had  made  them 
shiver.  The  King  and  Crown  Prince  were  trembling  for 
their  Hves  and  kept  the  missionaries  close  at  their  sides, 
holding  their  hands  and  following  their  advice  to  remain 
quietly  where  they  were,  instead  of  going  out  to  some 
other  rooms,  as  some  of  the  cabinet  urged.  Dr.  Under- 
wood knew  that,  in  going  from  one  place  to  another  in  the 
dark,  it  would  be  very  easy  for  his  enemies  to  abduct  His 
Majesty  or  to  kill  him  and  no  one  could  be  sure  by 
whom  the  deed  was  done.  So  they  remained  till  morn- 
ing light,  when  it  was  found  that  the  King's  friends  had 
been  betrayed  and  defeated,  and  as  the  cabinet  was  now 
more  firmly  than  ever  in  power  it  proceeded  with  a  high 
hand  to  punish  with  torture,  banishment  or  death  all  who 
had  had  any  hand  in  the  attack  on  the  palace. 

As  the  men  who  had  planned  and  led  the  attack  were 
at  Dr.  Underwood's  house  very  late  the  previous  night 
and  as  he  was  at  the  palace  during  the  attack,  he  was 
believed  to  have  had  a  hand  in  planning  the  abortive 
attempt,  and  many  were  the  efforts  made  to  implicate 
him,  but  no  shadow  of  proof  could  be  found,  because 
he,  in  fact,  not  only  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  but  actually 
knew  nothing  of  it  until  informed  by  the  secretary  of 
the  American  Legation.  However,  because  the  King's 
second  son.  Prince  Wewha,  was  given  shelter  in  our  home 
for  some  time,  and  as  Mr.  Yun  Che  Ho,  son  of  General 
Yun,  was  also  our  guest  for  several  weeks  that  winter, 
and  had  been  to  a  large  degree  instrumental  in  the  escape 
from  Korea  of  his  father.  Dr.  Underwood  was  the  object 
of  some  suspicion  and  animosity. 

The  escape  of  General  Yun  was  rather  interesting. 
On  the  morning  after  the  attack.  Dr.  Underwood  found 


152  Underwood  of  Korea 

him  in  our  gate  quarters,  hoping  to  be  admitted  to  shelter, 
and  when  he  heard  what  arrests  had  been  made,  he  ex- 
claimed :  'Then  I  am  a  dead  man" ;  for  well  he  knew  that 
torture  of  those  men  would  bring  to  light  his  share  in 
what  had  been  done.  He  was  an  old  friend  of  Dr.  Under- 
wood's, a  true  and  loyal  servant  of  the  rightful  ruler  of 
long  standing,  and  had  only  been  guilty  of  trying  to  serve 
the  King;  so  Dr.  Underwood  did  what  he  could  to  save 
him.  During  that  day  he  kept  him  concealed  in  a  small 
Korean  house  on  his  own  compound.  After  dark,  he  and 
his  friend  were  shaved  and  dressed  in  missionaries' 
clothes  with  fur  caps  which  concealed  their  faces;  then, 
with  Dr.  Underwood  on  one  side  and  another  missionary 
on  the  other,  they  walked  through  our  compound  to 
the  Russian  Legation  grounds  and  so  out  to  the  street 
just  opposite  the  west  gate  of  the  city.  There  were 
guards  there,  but  they  asked  no  questions  of  four 
foreigners,  two  of  whom  were  well  known.  Some  dis- 
tance outside  the  gate,  they  found  a  couple  of  closed 
sedan  chairs  and  still  another  missionary  mounted,  who 
accompanied  them  to  the  outskirts  of  Chemulpo,  the 
port,  twenty-eight  miles  distant.  Here  they  were  met 
by  marines  from  a  Russian  gun-boat  who  took  them  on 
board  a  Russian  ship  which  carried  them  to  Chee  Foo, 
China.  At  that  port  they  were  placed  on  a  steamer  bound 
for  Shanghai,  where  other  missionaries  received  them 
and  sheltered  them  for  months  until  it  was  safe  to 
return.  General  Yun,  I  may  say,  became  a  believer  in 
Christianity,  but  did  not  yield  his  heart  to  Christ  for 
many  years.  Before  he  died,  however,  he  became  a 
sincere  Christian,  and  although  he  was  never  baptized, 


Fateful  Days  in  Korea  153 

his  wife  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Underwood  as  the  General 
lay  on  his  deathbead. 

This  plot  for  the  escape  of  his  old  friend  was  the  only 
one  in  which  Dr.  Underwood  had  any  part  whatever,  but 
spies  constantly  hovered  around  his  gates  for  months  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  more  than  one  of  his  servants  and 
teachers  were  in  the  pay  of  the  usurping  cabinet  to  tell 
what  they  saw  and  heard. 

Before  the  Queen's  death,  as  has  been  said.  Dr.  Under- 
wood received  visits  almost  daily  from  many  of  the 
highest  nobility  who  feared  that  some  crisis  was  impend- 
ing and  wanted  to  consult  him.  Later,  after  the  sad 
event,  both  the  Queen's  friends  who  wished  to  avenge 
her  and  release  the  King,  and  their  enemies  who  wished 
to  entrap  Dr.  Underwood  into  making  disclosures  of 
plots  they  supposed  he  either  was  aware  of,  or  had  shared 
in,  came  with  all  sorts  of  suggestions  and  schemes  to  enlist 
his  help  and  advice ;  but,  as  has  been  said,  he  never  gave 
them  the  least  satisfaction,  for  he  neither  told  what  others 
had  said  to  him,  nor  himself  had  any  complicity  in  any 
schemes  whatever. 

Feeling,  however,  ran  high  among  the  foreigners: 
legation  officials,  business  men  and  missionaries;  every 
one  was  full  of  sympathy  for  the  poor  King,  and  the 
temptation  was  great  to  do  something  to  help  him  escape 
from  the  hands  of  the  party  who  held  him  a  virtual 
prisoner. 

Dr.  Underwood  had  a  strong  fund  of  caution  in  his 
make  up:  did  not  trust  courtiers  or  other  men  without 
good  reason  to  do  so,  and  never  in  his  life  allowed 
himself  to  do  or  say  anything,  so  far  as  he  knew, 
which  could  in  any  way  endanger  the  cause  of  Christ  and, 


154  Underwood  of  Korea 

what  was  the  same,  mission  work.  He  was  at  that  time 
accused  of  doing  this  very  thing,  but  it  was  an  entire 
mistake.  Rash  and  irresponsible  reporters  even  intro- 
duced his  name  with  glaring  headlines  in  American 
papers  as  "Underwood  the  schemer,"  ''Underwood  tries 
and  fails,"  with  thrilling  tales  of  the  American  mis- 
sionary leading  an  attack  on  the  palace. 


CHAPTER  IX 
AN  ITINERANT  MINISTRY 

WHILE  the  King  was  still  closely  watched  at  the 
palace,  Dr.  Underwood  was  obliged  to  take  a 
long  itinerating  trip  to  the  north.  A  visitor 
whom  he  had  entertained,  merely  as  an  act  of  courtesy 
had  bought  some  copies  of  the  gospels  and  taken  them 
back  to  his  home  in  Kok  San,  where  they  had  lain  unread 
on  the  shelf  for  many  months,  but,  at  last,  a  chance  guest 
saw  and  had  the  curiosity  to  read  them.  He  was  Hterally 
enchanted;  he  pored  over  them  day  and  night;  talked 
of  them  to  his  friends ;  became  converted  to  Christianity 
and,  though  one  of  the  worst  and  most  hardened  sinners 
in  the  community,  became  a  marvel  of  character  and 
conduct.  But  he  and  others  who  became  Christians 
were  not  content  to  go  on  without  some  teacher  to 
assure  them  that  they  had  not  misunderstood  the  Book, 
and  to  explain  it  fully,  so  they  wrote  a  letter  and  sent 
a  messenger  to  make  the  long  trip  to  the  capital  to 
bring  Dr.  Underwood.  But  just  then  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  go,  so  he  sent  a  letter  and  more  books,  prom- 
ising to  visit  them  so  soon  as  he  could.  Work  pressed 
and  months  again  slipped  by:  work  on  the  Translat- 
ing Board,  the  cholera,  the  King's  troubles,  and  many 
other  things  compelled  him  to  put  them  off.  At  length, 
a  third  time,  they  sent  a  messenger  with  a  most  pathetic 

155 


156  Underwood  of  Korea 

appeal:  "Are  we  such  great  sinners  that  God  will  not 
allow  any  one  to  come  and  show  us  the  right  way  of 
salvation?"  At  the  time  this  letter  came,  though  it  was 
difficult  to  get  away,  Dr.  Underwood  found  he  could  go, 
and  Dr.  Avison  decided  to  go  with  him. 

There  were  no  regular  mails,  but  they  were  frequently 
meeting  people  coming  to  Seoul,  so  letters  arrived  occa- 
sionally. In  some  of  these  the  two  travelers  spoke  with 
enthusiasm  of  the  fine  inns  they  had  found  on  the  way 
and  of  their  enjoyment  of  the  good  native  food  pro- 
vided, so  that  they  had  used  but  few  of  the  provisions 
they  had  taken  with  them.  In  consequence,  when  the 
messenger  whom  they  sent  for  mail  went  back,  we  de- 
cided that  they  would  not  need  any  more  supplies.  We 
forgot  that  good  inns  were  not  always  to  be  found,  and 
that  hungry  men  walking  all  day  can  devour  a  large 
amount  of  food  in  a  very  short  time,  so,  though  we  were 
anxious  to  send  something,  and  would  have  been  glad 
to  provide  food  for  them,  somehow  we  were  very 
stupid.  In  addition  to  the  mail,  we  sent  only  a  large 
pair  of  rubber  boots,  which  Mrs.  Avison  tied  up  in  two 
inviting-looking  packages.  Now,  it  seems  that  their 
provisions  had  run  very  low;  they  were  terribly  tired 
of  the  Korean  food  they  had  liked  so  well  for  a 
change,  and  were  eagerly  anticipating  the  bread,  cakes, 
pies  and  cooked  meats  that  they  supposed  were  on 
the  way.  Each  boasted  that  he  knew  his  wife  would 
send  this  or  that  of  his  favorite  foods,  whatever  the 
other  might  do.  So,  when  the  messenger  arrived,  they  tore 
open  the  bulky  package  on  top,  only  to  find  an  unap- 
petizing, indigestible  rubber  boot.  It  was  hurled  across 
the  room  in  disgust,  and  the  other  opened.     Another 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  157 

boot!  Simply  that  and  nothing  more!  Incredible! 
Swiftly  it  followed  its  fellow.  Fancy  the  mortification, 
shame  and  sorrow  of  the  two  wives  who  had  stupidly 
failed  their  husbands  in  a  time  of  need  and  who,  in 
addition  to  the  stings  of  their  own  consciences,  had  to 
bear  the  unending  reproaches  of  their  husbands,  who 
never  lost  a  chance  to  recall  the  affair  with  shouts  of 
laughter  and  cruel  gibes. 

But,  if  the  fleshly  man  was  hungry,  the  inner  man  of 
the  heart  was  filled  with  joy,  for  they  found  a  body 
of  earnest  Christians  athirst  for  the  Word  of  Life, 
who  greeted  them  as  though  they  were  angels  from 
Heaven.  They  scarcely  gave  them  time  to  eat  or  sleep, 
so  eager  were  they  to  hear  more  and  to  talk  over  their 
new  found  joy;  far  into  the  night  they  clustered  around 
the  two  men  and,  when  at  length  most  had  gone  to  their 
homes,  three  remained.  They  had  a  question.  The  com- 
mand was  to  repent,  believe  and  receive  the  washing  rite. 
Repent !  they  truly  had  repented  and  put  away  all  idols 
and  sins ;  believe !  they  did  believe  with  all  their  hearts ; 
but  this  washing  rite!  there  was  no  one  to  perform  it, 
death  might  come  and  the  command  unfulfilled!  So, 
after  waiting  long  with  prayer,  by  mutual  consent  they 
had  each  gone  to  his  home  and  bathed  himself  in  the 
name  of  Father,  Son  and  Spirit.  What  had  the  teacher 
to  say  to  that? 

To  think  of  souls  so  obedient,  so  earnest,  so  eager  to 
receive  God's  blessing,  left  neglected  and  hungry  while 
the  Water  of  Life  is  daily  poured  out  in  the  home-lands 
for  neglectful,  indifferent.  Gospel-hardened  unbelievers ! 
They  could  but  recognize  the  validity  of  the  self-admin- 
istered ordinance. 


158  Underwood  of  Korea 

They  baptized  several  others,  received  a  number  of 
catechumens,  gave  clear,  careful  teaching  and  had  a  com- 
munion service. 

But  they  were  suddenly  called  back  to  Seoul  on  ac- 
count of  stirring  events.  By  the  carefully  laid  plan  of 
some  of  the  palace  women,  the  King's  jailers  were  put 
off  their  guard,  feasted  until  they  were  heavy  with 
sleep,  when  he  and  his  son  were  smuggled  away  in  the 
early  dawn  in  closed  chairs  past  the  gates  where  the  sen- 
tinels were  sleeping  off  the  effects  of  a  carouse  and  taken 
to  the  Russian  Legation.  This  fact  was  soon  widely 
known,  and  the  whole  city  and  suburbs  were  in  the  wildest 
excitement ;  soldiers,  police,  the  chairs  of  the  loyal  no- 
bility, messengers,  nearly  the  whole  populace,  in  fact, 
crowded  the  street,  while  a  sort  of  roar  of  thousands  of 
voices  filled  the  air. 

Dr.  Underwood's  house  was  then  on  the  same  street  as 
that  on  which  the  Russian  grounds  opened,  and  the  two 
compounds  lay  side  by  side,  so  that  his  family  were 
eye-witnesses  of  all  that  passed. 

The  rebel  cabinet  fled  for  their  lives:  some  escaped 
to  the  country,  some  managed  to  reach  Chemulpo,  but 
one  or  two  were  literally  torn  to  pieces  on  the  streets 
by  the  enraged  populace.  The  King's  wrongs  alone  had 
not  thus  excited  them:  the  hair-cutting  had  lit  a  fire  of 
rage  which,  though  it  had  smoldered  for  a  time,  was  none 
the  less  fierce  and  cruel. 

It  was  flashed  upon  the  mind  of  the  writer  that  for- 
eigners and  Japanese,  to  whom  the  people  were  then 
peculiarly  inimical,  blaming  them  for  all  their  troubles, 
would  be  in  great  danger  in  the  country,  which  was 
true,   as   a   number   were  killed   who   were   caught   by 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  159 

angry  mobs;  so  we  felt  that  Drs.  Avison  and  Under- 
wood could  not  get  back  to  Seoul  too  soon.  The  writer 
sent  two  messengers  with  letters,  at  once,  by  different 
routes.  One  was  caught  by  a  band  of  Tong  Haks  and 
sent  back;  the  other  reached  his  destination  and  the 
men  at  once  started  for  Seoul  without  delay,  walk- 
ing most  of  the  way,  traveling  night  and  day,  covering 
two  hundred  English  miles  in  sixty  hours.  They  feared 
not  for  themselves,  but  for  their  families  with  the  capital 
in  such  an  uproar.  But  the  previous  year's  cholera  ex- 
perience had  taught  the  Seoul  populace  that  missionaries 
were  their  friends  and  not  one  was  molested. 

Not  only  were  messengers  sent  to  our  husbands,  but 
the  writer  sent  a  letter  to  the  Russian  Minister,  begging 
that  a  guard  be  ordered  out  to  meet  the  two  men.  This 
was  kindly  done,  but  the  guard  went  by  a  different  road, 
so  that  the  two  missionaries  returned  to  the  city  without 
its  protection.  A  Korean  nobleman  of  wealth  in  Song 
Do,  fifty  miles  from  Seoul,  who  knew  where  they  were 
and  their  danger,  also  sent  a  posse  to  meet  and  escort 
them,  but  they,  too,  were  late.  However,  the  two  mis- 
sionaries were  unmolested,  though  they  reached  Seoul 
well  nigh  worn  out. 

Another  interesting  beginning  of  a  little  Christian 
church  in  the  river  town  of  Haing  Ju  came  to  our  atten- 
tion at  that  time  which  was  very  plainly  a  result  of  the 
work  missionaries  had  done  for  the  cholera-stricken 
people.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Shin,  to  whom  refer- 
ence was  made  some  pages  back,  seeing  the  pains  taken 
and  love  shown  towards  his  people,  became  convinced 
that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  a  wonderful  power,  and 
this  idea  so  worked  upon  his  mind  that  he  became  a 


160  Underwood  of  Korea 

Christian  and,  without  a  hint  to  any  one,  took  his  carry- 
ing pannier  ("jicky")  and  went  down  to  Haing  Ju  ten 
miles  distant,  to  work  as  a  coolie  and  to  tell  people  of 
Christ.  Soon  one,  then  another,  was  believing.  One 
man  gave  his  house  up  for  religious  services;  people 
crowded  in  to  hear  the  Gospel;  children  were  taught 
to  sing  the  church  hymns,  and  Dr.  Underwood  was  shortly 
informed  that  there  were  one  hundred  inquirers  waiting 
for  examination  and  baptism.  So  he  went  down  to  the 
village  and  was  met  a  mile  or  two  from  the  town  by 
quite  a  band  of  children  singing  Christian  hymns.  This 
was  a  glad  surprise  in  a  place  which  neither  he  nor  any 
other  missionary  had  ever  visited  and  where  a  few  months 
before  Christ's  name  had  never  been  heard.  He  found 
really  changed  lives  among  those  people:  the  saloon- 
keeper had  poured  all  his  liquors  into  the  street  at  the 
risk  of  starving,  and  his  family  did  nearly  starve  to 
death;  a  sorceress  had  given  up  the  occult  works  by 
which  she  made  her  living,  and  had  confessed  her  sins, 
which  lay  heavy  on  her  conscience,  and  all  of  them  had 
put  away  their  idols.  The  place  had  had  a  very  bad  repu- 
tation for  theft  and  evil  of  every  kind,  but  soon  its  char- 
acter began  to  change,  and  people  from  other  villages 
began  to  come  to  Dr.  Underwood  asking  for  the  books 
that  had  made  such  a  change  in  the  people  of  Haing  Ju, 
so  that  they,  too,  might  learn  the  better  way. 

From  Haing  Ju,  Dr.  Underwood  took  us  down  the 
river  on  one  of  the  big  river  boats,  where  we  slept 
under  the  deck  one  night  among  great  water-beetles  in 
a  place  so  low  we  could  not  even  sit  upright  and  where 
a  sailor  came  now  and  then  to  bale  out  the  water  from 
the  farther  end  of  that  tub.     We  landed  next  day  and 


The  first  Church  built  entirely  by  a  native  congregation 


A  group  of  Christians  in  Sorai 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  161 

went  to  Hai  Ju,  the  provincial  capital  of  the  province  of 
Whang  Hai,  quite  a  large  and  very  wicked  town,  where 
there  was  a  small  company  of  Christians. 

From  there  we  went  on  to  the  village  of  Sorai,  where 
the  first  church  had  been  built,  to  hold  a  Bible  class,  and 
there  we  received  a  most  hearty  welcome. 

Dr.  Underwood  was  always  very  careful  and  thoughtful 
for  his  wife,  and  the  Koreans,  who  were  never,  according 
to  their  custom,  seen  on  the  street  with  the  women  of 
their  families,  were  struck  by  the  difference.  They  have 
separate  men's  and  women's  sitting-rooms  in  their 
homes;  they  do  not  walk  together  to  church  or  sit  to- 
gether when  there,  and  the  men  manifest  little  regard  for 
them  outwardly.  So  in  surprise  they  said :  "See  how  Dr. 
Underwood  loves  his  wife,"  and,  little  by  little,  his  ex- 
ample has  had  its  results;  customs  are  changing  and 
some  young  Koreans  now  walk  on  the  streets  with  their 
wives  and  show  regard  and  care  for  them  in  many  ways. 

Dr.  Underwood,  while  sitting  with  his  host  at  Sorai 
one  morning,  exclaimed,  as  he  saw  the  man's  wife  car- 
rying a  heavy  jar  of  water  on  her  head  over  the  hill : 
"Why,  Mr.  Kim,  I  am  sorry  you  are  so  ill  this  morn- 
ing. Why  didn't  you  tell  me?"  *'I11!  What  do  you 
mean?  I  am  quite  well,"  was  the  reply.  "It  cannot 
be  that  you  are  well  and  allow  your  wife  to  carry  the 
water  all  that  distance !"  The  man  blushed  and,  though 
he  did  not  carry  the  water,  he  soon  dug  a  well  close  to  the 
house  and  improved  the  women's  quarters  with  clocks, 
lamps,  glass  windows,  etc.,  all  of  which  he  showed  Dr. 
Underwood  with  great  pride  when  he  went  again. 

One  man  who  sought  baptism  was  a  former  Tong 
Hak.     He  had  killed  some  one  and  officials  were  on 


162  Underwood  of  Korea 

his  track.  He  fled  to  the  Christians,  hoping  they  would 
hide  him.  While  among  them,  he  became  truly  con- 
verted and  confessed  his  crime.  ''What  shall  I  do?" 
he  asked  the  leader.  "You  should  go  and  give  yourself 
up"  was  the  reply.  It  was  hard  advice  to  follow,  but 
he  went  and  was  condemned  to  death.  He  sang  hymns 
and  seemed  so  happy,  the  jailers  were  surprised :  they  had 
never  seen  a  condemned  prisoner  who  showed  such  peace 
and  joy.  Several  other  prisoners  became  converted 
through  him  and  then,  at  the  time  of  the  King's  escape, 
a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed  and  he  was  set  free. 
So  here  he  was.  He  had  to  walk  ten  miles  over  a  moun- 
tain pass  to  reach  the  church,  but  he  was  a  regular  at- 
tendant every  Sunday. 

Some  of  the  difficulties  of  itinerating  with  a  family 
were  exhibited  on  this  trip.  In  one  place,  our  child  had 
croup,  in  a  little  draughty  mud-house,  and  at  another 
a  couple  of  great  bulls  began  bellowing  and  fighting 
quite  near  the  frail  paper  door  of  our  room  under  the 
very  roof  where  we  slept,  and,  again,  Dr.  Underwood 
spent  a  large  part  of  one  night  trying  to  restore  his 
wife,  who  had  been  overcome  by  the  charcoal  gas  from 
the  Korean  brazier  they  had  been  obliged  to  use  to  warm 
the  room,  the  fire  under  the  floor  not  working  because 
the  wind  blew  the  wrong  way  down  the  chimney.  On 
another  day,  he  learned  that  the  road  for  the  ox-cart 
which  fords  shallow  rivers,  but  must  be  wide,  was  too 
far  and  had  too  many  bad  fords  for  the  chair,  although  his 
wife  was  in  the  chair,  and  his  Httle  boy  on  the  cart.  That 
part  of  the  country  was  haunted  at  times  by  both  tigers 
and  robbers;  both  roads  and  rivers  were  apt  to  be  haz- 
ardous; he  must  look  out  for  both;  so,  though  the  cart 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  163 

road  was  too  far  for  chair  coolies,  it  was  not  too  far  for 
him  to  walk  awhile  by  the  wife's  chair,  and,  when  all 
looked  well  for  her,  to  stride  across  country  to  see  how 
the  boy  and  cart  were  getting  on,  and  then  back  to 
the  wife,  and  so  back  and  forth,  zigzagging  all  the  way 
to  the  night  station.  But  when  he  reached  the  inn  with 
his  wife,  after  dark,  the  cart  was  not  yet  in  sight,  it 
had  still  another  pass  to  cross.  Darkness  was  the  chosen 
cover  for  wild  beasts;  so,  tired  though  he  was,  he 
fared  forth  alone,  in  the  dark,  to  find  the  cart  and  the 
boy.  All  this  without  one  word  of  annoyance  or  im- 
patience, one  outward  sign  of  weariness,  or  anything  but 
his  usual  sunny,  cheerful  temper. 

He  was  positively  eager  to  take  us  on  those  trips  and, 
when  it  was  argued  that  we  must  be  a  bother  and  hin- 
drance, he  laughed  at  the  idea  and,  no  matter  what 
difficulties  he  met  on  one  trip,  he  was  just  as  eager  to 
take  us  on  the  next. 

The  King's  birthday  came  in  September  and,  though 
we  knew  this,  the  fact  was  forgotten  one  year  until  two 
days  before  it  was  due,  when  it  occurred  to  Dr.  Under- 
wood that  it  ought  to  be  celebrated,  and  that  it  would  be 
a  good  and  proper  thing  for  missionaries  and  native 
Christians  to  take  the  initiative  in  such  an  affair.  There 
was  little  enough  time  for  what  he  wanted  to  do,  but  of 
what  there  was,  not  a  second  was  wasted. 

He  first  got  permission  to  have  the  use  of  a  large 
public  building  outside  the  gate  at  the  north  side  of  the 
city.  It  held  about  a  thousand  people.  There  was  no  suit- 
able place  inside  the  gates,  for  the  people  had  no  large 
theatres  or  lecture-halls,  and  even  to-day  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
which   has   the   largest   hall   in   the   city,    does   not   ac- 


164  Underwood  of  Korea 

commodate  a  thousand.  He  then  advertised  widely  that 
a  Christian  meeting  of  prayer  and  praise  to  celebrate 
His  Majesty's  birthday  would  take  place.  A  platform 
was  erected,  the  building  was  draped  with  flags,  some 
members  of  the  Cabinet  and  two  or  three  brilliant 
Korean  speakers  were  secured  to  address  the  people. 
A  harmonium  was  on  the  platform,  with  chairs  for  dis- 
tinguished guests,  of  whom  there  were  a  large  number. 
Nobody,  of  course,  wished  to  be  known  as  slighting  the 
royal  birthday,  so  that  the  courtiers,  as  well  as  the  com- 
monalty, so  far  as  they  knew  of  it,  were  there;  and  most 
of  the  missionaries,  of  course,  were  present. 

The  building  was  packed,  while  an  immense  throng  of 
people  of  all  classes,  ages  and  conditions  surged  around 
the  place  and  far  along  the  highway.  No  previous  event 
was  such  an  advertisement  of  Christianity  as  this.  For 
Dr.  Underwood,  who  had  sat  up  all  night  preparing  sev- 
eral tracts  and  had  rushed  them  through  the  press  by 
thousands,  had  young  Christians  and  school-boys  all  day 
distributing  them  throughout  the  city,  as  well  as  the 
hymns  which  he  also  prepared.  The  eager  crowd 
around  the  building  could  not  be  supplied  fast  enough. 
The  tract  clearly  and  briefly  explained  the  Gospel.  The 
hymn  was  set  to  the  tune  of  ''America,"  praying  God 
to  bless  the  King,  to  guard  his  body  from  every  ill, 
and  grant  him  Heavenly  grace ;  the  third  verse  being  as 
follows : 

"By  Thine  Almighty  Power 
Our  royal  emperor 
Has  been  Enthroned. 
Thy  Holy  Spirit  grant 
Our  nation  never  fail,  ^ 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  165 

Long  live  our  emperor 
Upheld  by  Thee." 


and  the  fifth  verse : 

"To  Thee,  the  only  Lord, 
Maker  and  King  Divine, 
We  offer  praise. 
When  all  shall  worship  Thee, 
Happy  our  land  shall  be, 
Powerful,  rich  and  free 
Beneath  Thy  smile." 

Everybody  who  could  read,  read  the  hymn  to  himself  and 
then  read  it  aloud  to  others  who  could  not  read,  and 
those  who  read  learned  that  Christianity  promotes  loyalty, 
that  there  is  only  one  God,  and  that  only  in  serving  Him 
can  prosperity  come. 

The  services  in  the  building  were  opened  with  prayer; 
addresses,  mainly  religious,  were  made;  hymns  were 
sung  and  the  service  finally  closed  with  the  Lord's 
prayer  repeated  in  concert.  It  was  thrilling  to  hear 
those  words  repeated  with  such  a  volume  of  sound. 

We  can  never  know  till  we  reach  the  other  side,  the 
entire  results  of  that  meeting,  but  we  do  know  that  Chris- 
tianity was  widely  and  favorably  advertised  throughout 
the  whole  country.  The  news  was  carried  everywhere  that 
the  Christian  religion  was  a  good  and  loyal  doctrine, 
worthy  to  be  looked  into,  considered  with  favor  by  the 
best;  it  was  no  occult,  secret  sorcery,  hiding  in  the  dark 
to  draw  men  into  its  toils,  but  proclaimed  the  power 
of  Almighty  God  and  sought  His  favor.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  thousands  were  led  by  this  meeting  to 


166  Underwood  of  Korea 

give  the  Gospel  a  favorable  hearing,  even  to  seek  to 
know  more  of  it,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  many 
were  turned  to  Christ  by  some  of  the  thousands  of 
tracts  so  eagerly  sought.  But  one  very  definite  and  last- 
ing result  was  the  birth  of  one  of  our  most  flourishing 
churches  in  the  Yellow  Sea  province.  Just  as  the  Haing 
Ju  church  was  the  child  of  cholera  administrations,  the 
Eul  Yul  church  had  its  beginning  in  this  birthday  cele- 
bration. 

The  chief  man  of  that  village  had  come  to  the  capital 
with  the  idea  of  buying  himself  an  office,  a  thing  not 
uncommonly  done,  but,  before  accomplishing  this 
aim,  his  attention  was  called  to  the  birthday  celebration, 
at  which  he  took  pains  to  be  present.  He  was  aston- 
ished at  what  he  saw  and  heard.  He  had  previously 
known  nothing  of  the  Gospel.  He  read  the  tracts,  bought 
Christian  books  and  read  them  with  care,  conversed  with 
and  questioned  Christians,  and  became  a  soundly  and 
enthusiastically  converted  man.  Instead  of  purchasing  a 
small  official  position,  he  bought  a  strong  donkey,  and 
dozens  of  Christian  books  for  him  to  carry,  and,  so  loaded 
down  with  good  tidings,  he  hastened  back  to  Eul  Yul, 
where  he  lost  no  time  in  telling  his  neighbors  of  the  treas- 
ure he  had  found.  The  books  were  widely  distributed, 
and  ere  long  a  company  of  believers  was  writing  to  Dr. 
Underwood  to  come  and  examine  a  large  number  who 
sought  baptism. 

At  that  very  time,  by  what  we  call  a  coincidence,  a 
nobleman  who  had  been  appointed  magistrate  of  that 
part  of  the  province,  before  leaving  Seoul,  called  on  Dr. 
Underwood  and,  bemoaning  his  banishment  from  the 
capital  to  a  lonely  country  town,  begged  the  missionary 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  167 

to  go  down  and  pay  him  a  visit.  "Well,"  was  the  reply, 
"I  will  go  on  one  condition.  You  know  that  I  take  those 
trips  to  the  country  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
If  you  will  promise  to  provide  me  with  a  large  room 
in  the  magistracy,  into  which  I  can  gather  a  crowd  and 
preach,  I  will  go  with  pleasure;  otherwise,  much  as  I 
should  like  to  see  you,  I  cannot  take  the  time  to  go." 
The  magistrate,  to  whom  all  religions  were  more  or  less 
indifferent,  but  who  knew  of  the  favor  in  which  Dr. 
Underwood  was  regarded,  willingly  consented,  and  within 
a  day  or  so  after,  the  above-mentioned  letters  from  Eul 
Yul,  beseeching  a  visit,  arrived. 

There  is  scarcely  space  here  to  repeat  the  story  of  the 
phenomenal  growth  of  this  church,  but  here  again  they 
put  away  their  concubines,  their  bad  habits,  their  idols, 
built  a  church  and  a  rest-house  for  missionaries,  used 
their  ancestral-worship  stones  for  steps  to  the  church, 
lived  wonderfully  changed  lives,  gave  generously  to  the 
support  of  the  Gospel,  continually  passed  on  the  Word 
to  their  unbelieving  friends,  and  studied  the  Bible  with 
great  eagerness,  faith  and  joy.  That  church  has  been 
in  existence  some  twenty  years  and  is  still  doing  its  good 
work  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

To  the  missionary  many  anomalies  are  presented,  and 
one  which  struck  and  arrested  Dr.  Underwood  was  the 
spectacle  of  an  essentially  literary  people  with  a  poten- 
tially large  reading  public,  without  anything  worthy  to 
be  called  a  newspaper  or  periodical.  The  wonderful 
appeal  and  possibilities  of  Christian  journalism  came  to 
him  with  irresistible  force.  He  had  been  physician, 
professor,  lecturer,  bishop,  carpenter,  plumber,  body- 
guard to  a  king,  and  diplomatist,  all  for  Christ,  so  why 


168  Underwood  of  Korea 

not  editor  also?  The  prospect  of  the  arduous  labors 
it  would  entail  did  not  daunt  him;  he  did  not  fail  to 
realize  the  true  proportions  of  the  work  he  proposed. 
It  was  not  his  habit  to  do  anything  by  halves  or  to  work 
by  guesswork  at  trades  he  knew  not  of.  Dozens  of  the 
best  Christian  and  secular  periodicals  were  studied,  the 
technical  difficulties  in  the  way  were  carefully  considered 
and  letters  to  leading  editors,  journalists  and  printing 
firms  in  America  and  England,  asked  and  brought  a  regu- 
lar symposium  of  advices  on  the  question.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  with  a  printing  establishment  in  Japan, 
a  capable  native  staff  was  selected,  and  a  little  building 
on  Dr.  Underwood's  grounds,  which  had  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  church  in  Korea,  was  transformed  into  a 
still  more  far-reaching  center  of  influence  for  Christ  as 
the  office  of  the  first  Christian  newspaper. 

Dr.  Underwood's  aim  as  an  editor  was  to  carry  counsel 
and  comfort  to  the  Christian  church,  to  present  to  laborer 
and  landlord,  to  Koreans  of  country  and  city,  a  practical 
Christianity  which  interested  itself  in  their  fields  and 
finances,  and  which  brought  them  word  of  doings  in  dis- 
tant lands,  so  "The  Weekly  Christian  News"  brought  to 
far  away  provincial  officials  the  "Palace  Gazette,"  news 
of  foreign  countries  and  articles  on  subjects  of  interest 
and  help;  the  farmer  found  accounts  of  cotton  and  to- 
bacco-raising in  other  countries,  improved  methods  of 
fertilization  and  descriptions  of  better,  though  simple, 
farm  implements ;  the  merchant  found  news  and  articles 
on  commerce  in  its  columns.  The  weekly  Sunday  School 
lesson,  translations  of  devotional  writings  by  eminent  men 
of  spiritual  power,  and  news  of  the  church  caused  it  to 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  169 

be  eagerly  read  and  looked  for  in  each  little  group  of 
Christians  to  which  it  came. 

All  of  us  live  in  this  world  and  none  of  us  reaches  the 
point  where  the  affairs  of  this  world  have  no  interest 
for  us.  Even  the  denominational  organs  of  America 
give  more  and  more  proof  that  the  affairs  of  the  church 
are  knit  with  those  of  the  world,  and,  to  be  the  evangel- 
izing organ  Dr.  Underwood  wished  it  to  become,  the 
paper  had  to  carry  a  large  amount  of  matter  which  was 
not  essentially  Christian.  Again,  he  knew,  as  all  in 
America  know  and  as  the  mission  force  in  Korea  now 
knows,  that  a  paper  cannot  pay  its  way  merely  by  sub- 
scriptions. Dr.  Underwood  exercised  due  care  in  the 
class  of  advertisements  which  he  inserted,  but  secular 
articles,  even  on  such  subjects  as  tobacco-growing,  there 
were,  and  a  list  of  advertisers  well  pleasing  to  a 
prudent  editor.  Every  provincial  governor  and  every 
county  magistrate  in  the  country  took  this  paper;  the 
thirteen  provinces  ordered  one  each  for  three  hundred 
and  seventy  magistrates;  two  copies  went  to  the  palace 
and  brought  from  His  Majesty  a  most  kind  and  gracious 
tribute  to  the  character  of  the  paper  and  an  appreciation 
of  the  editor's  work.  Growing  subscriptions,  an  increas- 
ing number  of  advertisers  and  ever-widening  interest  and 
appreciation  testified  to  its  success.  Dr.  Underwood  fore- 
saw with  pleasure  long  years  of  ever  increasing  influence 
for  it.  His  rapid  grasp  of  the  business  of  journalism, 
the  ability  of  his  mind  to  seize  upon  the  technical  details 
of  newspaper  production  and  the  features  which  would 
appeal  to  his  public,  were  astonishing.  There  were  col- 
ored supplements,  pictures  illustrating  Christian  character 
by  well  known  artists,  the  picture  story  and  the  story 


170  Underwood  of  Korea 

of  its  painting  told  in  brief  in  the  accompanying  number 
and  the  portrait  of  His  Majesty  by  his  gracious  consent 
taken  for  and  published  in  the  paper. 

But  some  members  of  the  mission  were  unwilling  that 
a  magazine  should  be  carried  on  independently  of  mission 
control  by  a  missionary.  They  did  not  approve  of  the 
lines  on  which  it  was  run ;  they  wanted  less  secular  ma- 
terial, no  advertisements,  and,  in  a  word,  they  thor- 
oughly differed  from  Dr.  Underwood's  views  and  ideals 
for  the  paper.  One  was  displeased  with  this  feature, 
another  with  that.  The  ''term  question"  here,  too, 
was  an  important  factor,  and  they  developed  so  deter- 
mined an  opposition  that,  when  they  sent  an  insistent 
request  that  he  should  give  up  the  paper,  he  felt  obliged 
to  do  so,  for  the  sake  of  amity.  He  felt  that,  in  the  end, 
this  course  would  be  better  than  to  continue  it  as  a  root 
of  bitterness.  He  did  not  come  to  this  conclusion  easily 
for  he  had  bright  visions  for  the  paper,  and  foresaw 
what  great  work  it  might  do,  but  when  he  did  so  he  did 
it  quietly  ^nd  finally.  The  matter  was  as  a  closed  book. 
So  far  as  anything  he  ever  said  or  did  with  regard  to  it, 
the  paper  might  never  have  existed ;  certainly  there  was 
no  personal  unpleasantness  of  any  kind  in  connection 
with  it  on  his  part. 

One  of  the  Board  secretaries  wrote  of  him:  "In  my 
hearing,  he  never  was  tripped  or  tempted  into  any  harsh 
or  unkindly  expressions.  I  often  wondered  whether  he 
had  feelings  or  thoughts  in  these  matters  which  he  was 
able  to  control,  or  whether  his  inner  spirit  was  free  of 
the  very  capacity  for  jealousy  or  ill-will  or  unkindness." 

He  began  to  publish  the  paper  in  1897  and  carried 
it   on   until    1901.      His    own   personal    report   to   the 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  171 

mission  and  Board  as  to  its  character  and  design  de- 
serves a  glance.  "Its  object,"  he  says,  "was  to  set  forth 
the  truth  of  Christ  and  the  aims  of  the  missions.  It 
always  contained  a  leader  on  general  topics,  a  page  was 
devoted  to  farming,  another  contained  items  on  the 
home,  arts  and  sciences;  there  were  a  translation  of  the 
Royal  Gazette,  home  and  foreign  telegrams,  the  Sunday 
School  lessons  for  the  ensuing  week,  prayer-meeting 
topics  and  church  and  foreign  missionary  news." 

Some  years  later  he  was  asked  to  assist  in  the  over- 
sight of  another  paper,  the  character  of  which  was  entirely 
different  under  mission  control,  and  this  he  did,  in  so  far 
as  he  was  able  under  such  conditions  and  with  a  multi- 
tude of  other  activities  which  had  arisen  in  the  interim 
making  demands  on  his  time.  But  circumstances  had 
changed :  various  secular  papers  had  started,  and  he  real- 
ized the  golden  day  had  gone  by. 

In  191 5,  I  found  the  following  note  in  a  report  on  the 
work  of  the  Federation  of  missions: 

"Both  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  felt  that  their  de- 
nominational papers  had  not  been  accorded  such  a  measure 
of  success  as  to  warrant  continuing  them,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  start  a  union  paper,  which  will  be  the  only  one  published 
by  either  of  the  missions." 

It  was  extremely  Interesting  to  learn  after  Dr.  Under- 
wood's death,  from  a  statement  made  in  a  memorial 
service  held  in  the  First  Church  in  Pyeng  Yang,  that 
Kil  Moksa,  its  pastor,  owed  his'  conversion  to  an  ar- 
ticle in  "The  Christian  News."  Kil  Moksa,  the  blind 
preacher,  the  most  spiritually-minded,  forceful  and  in- 
fluential of  all  the  Korean  leaders,  the  pastor  of  the 


172  Underwood  of  Korea 

largest  and  strongest  native  church  in  Korea!  Dr. 
Underwood  would  have  thought  it  well  worth  his  while 
to  expend  all  the  labor,  time  and  money  he  spent  in  pub- 
lishing this  paper,  and  suffer  all  he  did  in  giving  it  up, 
to 'save  that  one  man  for  God's  church  and  cause.  Would 
that  he  might  have  known  it  in  his  hfetime!  How  glad 
he  would  have  been  to  have  known  what  a  share  he  had 
had  in  the  glorious  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  in  the  North! 
What  beautiful  surprises  God  has  in  store  for  his 
workers  when  they  reach  the  other  side ! 

In  resolutions,  after  Dr.  Underwood's  death,  pre- 
sented by  Dr.  Grierson,  Rev.  J.  L.  Gerdine  and  Mr. 
M.  L.  Swinehart,  the  Editorial  Board  of  the  "Chris- 
tian Messenger,"  now  the  union  publication  of  all  the 
missions,  it  is  stated: 

"The  first  church  newspaper  in  Korea  was  inaugurated, 
conducted,  financed  and  edited  by  Dr.  Underwood  as  a 
personal  undertaking  for  a  number  of  years.  He  early  saw 
the  need  for  such  an  organ  for  the  enlightening  of  the  church 
and  did  alone  what  is  now  none  too  easily  done  by  an 
editorial  board  representing  most  of  the  missionary  agencies 
in  Korea.  This  Board  honors  him  as  a  pioneer  in  this  phase 
of  mission  work,  as  of  many  others,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  the  early  spring  of  that  year.  Dr.  Underwood  con- 
sented to  go  on  a  mission  to  Japan  at  the  request  of  the 
King  through  Dr.  McLeavy  Brown.  One  of  the  King's 
sons,  who  was  at  that  time  very  Ukely  to  succeed  to  the 
throne,  was  then  in  Japan.  It  was  the  King's  desire  that 
he  should  go  to  America  and,  under  the  oversight  of 
our  Board  of  Missions,  be  sent  to  some  first  class  educa- 
tional institution  where  he  could  fit  himself  to  enter  a 


All  Itinerant  Ministry  173 

naval  or  military  academy.  Several  abortive  attempts 
had  been  made  to  accomplish  this  through  friends  in 
Japan,  but  insuperable  difficulties  seemed  to  arise.  Per- 
haps the  Prince  did  not  wish  to  go;  perhaps  influence 
was  used  to  keep  him  where  he  was;  at  any  rate,  the 
Prince,  in  spite  of  the  King's  reiterated  commands,  had 
not  gone. 

Dr.  Underwood  would  not  have  accepted  an  ordinary 
political  mission,  but  he  felt  that  this  might  perhaps  be 
big  with  important  results  for  the  future  welfare  of  the 
cause  of  Christ  in  Korea.  All  his  actions  were  guided 
by  the  one  thought:  How  will  this  affect  Christ's  cause? 
So,  although  he  was  head  over  ears  in  work,  as  his 
report  for  that  year,  which  I  shall  quote  later,  will  show, 
he  consented  to  undertake  the  task.  He  was  provided 
with  money  for  the  Prince's  outfit,  tickets  and  possible 
debts  in  Japan,  and  ordered  to  see  him  sail. 

To  our  amusement  and  disgust,  we  found  that  Dr. 
Underwood  was  followed  everywhere  by  spies,  from  the 
day  he  left  home.  Letters  written  by  him  were  read 
by  others  and  the  contents  told  before  they  were  seen 
by  the  proper  recipients,  and  a  spy  even  slept  on  the 
landing  outside  our  door,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  reach  the  street  without  this  man's  knowledge. 

He  found  the  Prince  not  very  willing  to  go;  all  sorts 
of  objections  were  raised,  but  the  King's  positive  com- 
mands could  not  longer  be  slighted.  The  finest  clothing 
to  be  had  was  provided,  debts  were  paid,  passage  ar- 
ranged for,  the  Korean  Legation  in  Takio  conferred 
with,  and,  after  the  exchange  of  one  or  two  telegrams 
between  the  Japanese  and  Korean  Governments,  His 
Royal    Highness,    the    Prince,    set    sail.      The    Korean 


174  Underwood  of  Korea 

monarch  was  pleased  and  his  confidence  in  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  strengthened.  But  further  than  this,  I  am 
afraid  the  sending  of  the  Prince  did  no  good.  The  story 
of  his  exploits  in  America  is  not  for  these  pages. 

That  summer,  Dr.  Underwood  fell  a  victim  to  a  very 
long  and  obstinate  attack  of  remittent  fever.  I  have 
never  seen  a  case  with  symptoms  more  violent  and 
exhausting.  The  difficulty  in  retaining  any  nourish- 
ment whatever  added  to  the  exhaustion,  and  it  seemed 
that  only  the  most  remarkable  constitution  could  hold 
out.  He  was  with  his  family  in  the  little  cottage  by 
the  river  during  the  first  week  or  two  of  illness,  but  con- 
veniences there  were  lacking:  no  doctor  or  drug  reposi- 
tory was  within  five  miles,  no  nurses,  and  that  summer, 
even  no  neighbors  except  one  busy  mother  of  tiny  children 
far  up  the  hill.  There  was  no  malted  milk  to  be  had 
and  no  cow's  milk  but  that  in  cans.  There  was  also  no 
one  to  relieve  the  one  heartsick  watcher  who  nursed  day 
and  night. 

One  night  things  seemed  to  reach  a  climax:  the  rain 
poured  down,  the  wind  blew  a  hurricane,  the  almost 
constant  lightning  was  accompanied  with  deafening 
thunder  and  the  miserable  thatched  roof  was  soon  leak- 
ing Hke  a  sieve.  Water  flowed  in  around  most  of  the 
casements  and  soon  it  began  to  leak  over  Dr.  Under- 
wood's bed.  He  was  in  a  stupor,  from  which  he  was 
only  aroused  occasionally  by  severe  nausea;  he  could 
not  lift  his  head.  His  cousin,  a  lady  not  very  strong, 
and  the  writer,  with  great  difficulty  moved  the  heavy, 
solid  wooden  bedstead  far  enough  to  escape  that  par- 
ticular leak,  but  soon  there  was  another  and  another. 
Between  movings,  we  gathered  vessels  that  would  hold 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  175 

water,  from  the  kitchen,  to  catch  the  downpour  in  vari- 
ous places,  and  placed  bath-towels  and  raincoats  to  stop 
the  inflow  at  the  windows  and  doors.  The  frail  house 
fairly  rocked  in  the  storm  and  we  two  helpless  women 
were  alone  with  a  very  seriously  sick  man. 

In  the  morning.  Dr.  Avison  came  and  invited  us  to 
take  our  invalid  to  his  house  in  the  city,  which  was 
on  a  breezy  hilltop,  quite  near  the  hospital,  and,  still 
better,  he  would  be  there  to  advise  and  help.  So  the 
patient  was  placed  on  a  long,  easy,  cane  steamer-chair, 
covered  with  blankets,  raincoats  and  umbrellas,  and 
carried  by  six  or  eight  husky  coolies  very  gently  to  the 
city.  There  was  a  partly  unoccupied  wing  of  Dr.  Avison's 
house,  which  we  furnished  mainly  from  our  own,  and 
our  cook  and  house-boy  came  to  be  hands  and  feet  for 
Mrs.  Avison  and  the  writer  whenever  possible.  There 
were  no  nurses  to  be  had  at  that  time,  but,  if  there  had 
been,  the  writer  would  still  have  preferred  to  take  care 
of  him. 

Soon  after  reaching  Seoul,  however,  our  son  fell  ill 
with  the  same  fever  and  he,  too,  with  our  cousin,  had  to 
be  brought  to  the  home  of  the  much-enduring  Avisons. 
As  the  cousin  knew  nothing  of  nursing,  and  the  doctor 
was  too  busy  with  his  hospital  to  devote  himself  to  one 
patient,  the  one  nurse  cared  for  both  for  three  weeks, 
when  symptoms  and  rains  both  abated  sufficiently  to  allow 
the  patients  to  be  removed  back  to  the  riverside  cottage. 

In  those  early  pioneer  days  and  even  now,  in  country 
stations,  missionaries  are  often  thus  dependent  on  the 
kindness  of  their  friends,  whose  homes  are  virtually  at 
the  disposal  of  those  who  are  in  need.  Quite  frequently, 
Dr.  Underwood  kept  those  who  were  ill  for  weeks  in  his 


176  Underwood  of  Korea 

little  summer  house  by  the  river.  Occasionally,  in  his 
absence  the  house  was  used,  rent  free,  and  this  was  no 
more  than  any  other  missionary  would  have  been  glad 
to  do. 

The  long  illness  (he  lay  apparently  at  death's  door  for 
weeks)  left  both  father  and  son  very  feeble.  The  annual 
meeting  being  then  convened  in  Seoul,  their  doctors 
agreed  that  the  Underwoods  must  take  a  sea  trip  to 
Japan  or  China  and  that,  as  Mrs.  Avison  was  having 
obstinate  malarial  fever  and  as  some  of  their  children 
were  ill  with  dysentery,  they  all  must  go,  the  mission 
recommending  the  payment  of  expenses  by  the  Board. 
So  the  two  families  started  for  Japan  on  what  looked, 
no  doubt,  like  a  pleasure  trip  to  outsiders,  but  those 
who  saw  the  pale  faces  and  emaciated  forms,  knew  better, 
and  those  who  knew  the  two  men  and  their  mad  passion 
for  work,  work  and  more  work,  never  thought  of  such  a 
thing. 

Before  they  went,  they  turned  in  their  reports  for  the 
year  already  past.  I  will  give  a  short  synopsis  of  Dr. 
Underwood's. 

He  had  made  three  itinerating  trips  in  the  country 
districts  assigned  him,  occupying  ten  weeks  in  all.  The 
regular  weekly  meetings  had  been  held  in  his  city  church ; 
one  hundred  applicants  for  baptism  had  been  examined 
in  daily  afternoon  meetings;  class  meetings  with  leaders 
had  been  arranged  for ;  he  had  influenced  nearly  all  the 
native  Christians  under  his  care  to  adopt  the  tithing 
principle;  the  people  of  Chang  Yun  had  proposed  sup- 
porting a  foreign  missionary;  "The  Christian  News" 
had  been  started;  there  had  been  cordial  relations  with 
the  palace,  calling  for  almost  daily  audiences ;  Bible  trans- 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  177 

lation  had  gone  steadily  forward  from  three  or  four  to 
six  hours  a  day;  the  fourth  edition  of  the  hymn-book 
had  been  pubHshed,  also  the  fifth  edition  of  Mrs.  Nevius' 
catechism;  lesson  leaves  for  Sunday  schools  had  been 
translated  and  published;  altogether,  1,049,500  printed 
pages  had  been  published. 

He  tells  several  interesting  stones :  Of  the  sudden  con- 
version of  a  bad  magistrate  whom  the  Christians  had 
asked  the  missionary  to  complain  of  because  he  had 
removed  a  Christian  ferryman.  Dr.  Underwood  had  re- 
fused to  report  the  man,  but,  after  his  sudden  remark- 
able conversion,  the  ferryman  was  reinstated.  Another 
magistrate  had  also  become  a  Christian.  Another  village 
had  turned  to  Christ  with  nearly  every  household  in  it, 
and  an  old  Christian's  home  had  been  miraculously  spared 
in  a  flood  through  prayer. 

With  regard  to  the  relations  with  the  palace,  to  which 
he  refers  so  slightly,  it  was  well  known  in  court  circles 
that  Dr.  Underwood  was  a  prime  favorite :  the  King  had 
openly  said  they  were  brothers,  that  he  could  never  for- 
get what  Dr.  Underwood  had  done  for  him  in  time  of 
trouble.  Every  one  knew  that  His  Majesty  sent  for 
him  almost  daily,  rising  to  greet  him  with  a  familiar 
hand  pressure,  where  high  officials  were  obliged  to  bow 
to  the  ground,  and  to  stand  in  the  presence,  and  en- 
gaging in  conversation  of  the  most  intimate  and  im- 
portant character  in  matters  concerning  the  national  wel- 
fare. The  King  often  asked  him  about  his  country  trips 
and  the  progress  of  Christianity.  He  also  often  asked 
about  the  country  magistrates,  how  he  found  they  were 
discharging  their  duties  and,  on  one  occasion,  when  Dr. 
Underwood  was  unable  to  give  a  good  report,  the  man 


178  Underwood  of  Korea 

was  at  once  removed.  But  he  was  extremely  careful 
not  to  engage  in  politics  or  to  use  influence,  except  to 
win  a  favorable  hearing  for  the  Gospel.  The  long  illness 
and  the  subsequent  necessary  absence  of  some  weeks 
cut  short  these  audiences  for  a  time. 

The  two  families  going  away  together  first  sought  re- 
cuperation in  Japan.  They  visited  the  wonderful  sulphur 
baths  of  Unzen  across  the  bay  from  Nagasaki  and  found 
marvelous  hot  springs,  a  veritable  wonder  of  nature, 
where  the  earth's  internal  fires  seem  only  a  very  little 
beneath  one's  feet;  they  saw  wonderful  mountain 
scenery,  too,  but  grew  no  better  in  health,  so  they  decided 
to  go  to  China  and  try  the  sea  air  of  Chee  Foo.  To  do 
this,  it  was  necessary  to  go  via  Shanghai  on  account 
of  steamer  routes.  So  there  they  consulted  Chinese  mis- 
sionaries about  their  Korean  problems  while  their  wives 
revelled  in  real  shops  and  laid  in  stores  of  things  de- 
sirable to  housekeepers. 

An  amusing  experience  that  might  have  turned  out 
more  seriously,  was  that  the  clerk  at  the  bank  insisted 
that  Dr.  Underwood  had  a  larger  deposit  by  one  hun- 
dred dollars  or  so  than  he  believed  himself  to  possess, 
his  bank-book  having  been  forgotten,  but  at  length, 
when  he  had  meekly  suggested  that  the  clerk  was  mis- 
taken, and  that  haughty  personage  had  crushed  him  with 
the  cold  reply  that  they  "did  not  make  mistakes  in  that 
bank,"  he  took  the  money  thrust  upon  him  and  painted 
the  town  of  Shanghai  as  red  as  a  good  missionary 
could,  with  drives  in  real  carriages  and  reckless  pur- 
chases at  the  wonderful  shops,  which  seemed  to  us  after 
our  years  in  Korea  to  far  outblaze  in  glory  anything 
London  or  Paris  or  New  York  could  do. 


An  Itinerant  Ministry  179 

As  soon  as  our  steamer  was  ready,  we  all  went  to 
Chee  Foo.    Here  we  met  a  young  bride  and  groom  just 
out   from  America  going  to   be  missionaries   in  Tung 
Chow  and  were  urged  by  the  gentleman  who  had  come 
to  conduct  them  to  go  up  there  with  them  and  see  the 
schools.    It  was  only  a  two-day  trip  in  a  shenza.    Now, 
a  shenza  is  an  indescribable  sort  of  covered  litter  carried 
between  two  mules,  one  in  front  and  one  behind,  the  most 
uncomfortable  and,  I  think,  dangerous  mode  of  convey- 
ance  the  writer  has  ever  tried,  and  her  experiences  with 
queer  vehicles  have  been  many.     It  is  said  to  have  three 
motions :  that  of  a  pepper-box,  up  and  down,  that  of  a 
fan,  back  and  forth,  that  of  a  cradle,  from  side  to  side, 
and  all  three  at  once.     Mr.  Underwood  was  unwilling 
to  have  his  rheum.atic  wife  jolted  about  for  two  days 
like  that  and  proposed  a  sedan  chair.    But  we  were  told 
that  delicate  and  frail  ladies  had  gone  back  and  forth 
from  Chee  Foo  to  Tung  Chow  for  thirty  years  and  had 
never  had  a  chair  or  any  conveyance  other  than  a  shenza. 
No  Chinese  coolies  could  be  hired  to  carry  a  chair  for 
two  days  into  the  country,  they  said.     But  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  not  convinced :  ''Laughs  at  impossibilities  and 
says  it  shall  be  done,"  was  his  motto.     We  were  in  the 
habit  of  riding  in  the  interior  of  Korea  in  chairs  for 
weeks  together.     So  he  got  an  interpreter  and   fared 
forth  to  the  haunts  of  the  chair  coolies.    He  soon  found 
men  who  were  willing  to  go  for  a  moderate  price,  bor- 
rowed a  chair  from  some  missionary,  hired  donkeys  for 
Dr.  Avison,  himself  and  litde  son,  and  started  out,  his 
wife  the  first  missionary  who  had  ever  gone  in  a  chair 
to  Tung  Chow. 

We  all  returned  to  Korea  much  improved  in  health 


180  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  spirits,  but,  alas,  the  Board  refused  to  finance  our 
trip,  and  the  bank  in  Shanghai  sent  a  letter  admitting 
that  they  really  had  made  a  mistake,  for  the  bank  bal- 
ance they  had  credited  to  us  had  been  found  to  belong 
to  another  Underwood  somewhere  in  the  interior  of 
China  and  we  must  pay  back  what  was,  alas,  all  spent. 
But  a  cheering  check  came  almost  at  the  same  time  from 
a  good  brother  in  America,  who  doubtless  had  been  tele- 
pathically  made  aware  that  we  needed  it.  But  it  was  not 
so  easy  for  the  Avisons,  who  had  so  greatly  needed  the 
change  and  had  not  a  good  brother  in  America  to  come 
to  their  relief.  The  Board  afterwards  relented  and  paid 
one-half  the  cost. 


CHAPTER  X 
ADVOCATE— PEACEMAKER— AMBASSADOR 

IN  1898,  Dr.  Underwood,  at  the  request  of  the  Ameri- 
can Minister,  consented  to  act  as  counsel  in  defense 
of  a  poor  fellow  accused  of  murder.     In  a  land 
like  Korea,  as  it  was  at  that  time,  all  cases  of  crime  com- 
mitted by  Americans  had  to  be  tried  at  the  American 
Legation,  the  American  Minister  acting  as  judge  as  well 
as  prosecuting  attorney.     This  is  one  of  the  phases  of 
"extra  territoriality."    What  made  it  worse  was  that  the 
poor  prisoner  had  no  appeal  to  any  higher  court.     On 
the  other  hand,  he  could  not  be  condemned  to  death, 
only  to  imprisonment.     An  American  citizen  of  some 
means,  a  resident  of  Chemulpo,  had  been  killed  there  in 
the  night  and  robbed ;  he  had  been  slain  with  a  heavy  iron 
instrument  used  by  butchers.    There  was  a  butcher-shop 
next  door  communicating  by  a  balcony  with  the  upper 
story  of  the  American's  house,  kept  by  a  Chinaman.    The 
butcher  was   missing   after   the   murder   and   his    shop 
closed,  but,  in  spite  of  this,  suspicion   fell  on  a  poor, 
dissipated   American,   a   companion   and   friend   of    the 
murdered  man.     He  was,  no  doubt,  a  rather  worthless 
fellow,  but  had  never  been  known  to  harm  or  wrong 
any  one  except  himself;  still,  he  was  arrested,  and  ac- 
cording to  our  law,  some  one  must  be  found,  if  pos- 
sible, to  act  as  counsel  for  his  defense.    Dr.  Underwood 

181 


182  Underwood  of  Korea 

was  the  very  man.  Nothing  he  loved  better  than  to 
champion  a  lost  cause,  to  help  the  weak,  the  forlorn, 
the  helpless  whom  everybody  else  despised.  He  certainly 
would  have  been  a  knight  errant  had  he  lived  in  earlier 
days.  He  was  quite  severely  criticised  for  his  action. 
"What,  a  missionary  defend  the  cause  of  a  murderer?'* 
they  said.  "This  is  not  fair,"  he  replied,  "we  have 
no  right  to  call  him  so  until  he  has  been  proved  to 
be  one.  He  is  a  poor,  friendless  fellow,  accused  of  a 
crime  he  may  not  have  committed.  I  shall  believe  him 
innocent  until  the  contrary  is  proved."  He,  of  course, 
had  never  studied  law,  but  he  got  some  books  from 
a  lawyer  in  Seoul  and  went  at  his  task  in  his  usual 
thorough-going  way.  In  spite  of  his  exacting  mis- 
sion work,  he  found  time  to  go  to  Chemulpo,  sift  all 
the  evidence,  examine  witnesses  and  to  write  a  splen- 
did brief  for  his  client.  He  had  long  talks  with  the 
poor  man,  whose  confidence  and  liking  he  won,  and  was 
more  and  more  convinced,  in  spite  of  some  contrary  cir- 
cumstantial evidence,  of  his  innocence  and  of  the  guilt  of 
the  missing  Chinaman.  Bitterly  he  lamented  that  he  had 
neither  money  nor  time  to  pursue  the  case  to  China  or 
to  bring  up  more  witnesses.  His  conduct  of  the  case 
excited  astonishment  and  admiration  in  those  who  heard. 
It  was  said  to  be  masterly.  But  prejudice  and  the  repu- 
tation of  the  prisoner  for  loafing  and  general  uselessness 
were  against  him.  An  American  had  been  murdered,  an 
example  must  be  made.  The  poor  man  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  lifelong  confinement.  Most  of  the  mis- 
sionaries and  foreign  community,  I  believe,  thought  him 
guilty;  some  were  so  sure,  they  would  not  listen  to  the 
testimony  in  his  defense.     He  remained  a  number  of 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     1 83 

years  in  jail  and  died  there.  But  some  years  after  his 
death,  the  Chinese  butcher  was  arrested  for  another  crime 
and  confessed  to  this  murder  for  which  Dr.  Under- 
wood's unhappy  client  suffered,  the  victim  of  prejudice 
and  a  bad  reputation. 

In  October  of  1897,  the  King  was  proclaimed  Emperor, 
the  dead  Queen's  rank  was  raised  to  that  of  Empress 
and,  in  the  following  November,  her  remains,  which  to 
that  time  had  been  kept  uncoffined  in  a  hall  of  mourn- 
ing  at   the   palace,   were   buried   with   great   ceremony. 
All  court  officials  had  worn  heavy  mourning  since  her 
death  and  twice  each  month  sacrifices  had  been  offered. 
For  this  funeral  neither  pains  nor  expense  were  spared. 
We  have  no  space  for  a  particular  description  of  the 
ceremonies;  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  everything  was 
done  that  an  Eastern  ruler  could  think  of  to  honor  his 
beloved    dead.      Hundreds    of    guests    were    invited    to 
share   the   King's  hospitality   for  a  day  and  night,   in 
order   to   be  present  and   take  part  in   paying  respect 
to  her  memory.     Dr.  Underwood  and  his  family  were 
among  those  favored  with  invitations  and  were  proud 
to    accept.      There    were    five    thousand    soldiers,    four 
thousand  lantern-bearers,  six  hundred  and  fifty  police, 
and  civil  and  military  dignitaries  of  all  ranks  to  attend 
the  casket  on  the  road  to  the  grave.    Would  that  some 
of  them  might  have  defended  her  when  she  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  the  cruelty  of  her  enemies !    ''All  these,  with  the 
varied  accoutrements  of  ancient  and  modern  arms  and 
the  immense  variety  in  the  dress  and  livery  of  court 
and  other  officials,  retainers,  menials,  chair-bearers  and 
mapoos,  made  a  scene  past  description."     The  Emperor 
had  sent  Dr.  Underwood  a  special  invitation  to  attend 


184  Underwood  of  Korea 

in  the  royal  procession,  but,  as  it  was  the  Sabbath,  he 
waited  until  evening  and  then  went  quietly  as  a  private 
mourner.  It  was  one  of  those  wonderful,  clear,  star- 
light nights  of  Korea,  when  the  spirit  world  seems  to  be 
very  near  when  the  dead  Queen  was  laid  to  rest.  A 
stately  procession  of  soldiers,  bearing  banners  and 
Korean  lanterns,  marching  in  double  file  on  either  side 
and  in  close  ranks,  accompanied  the  casket  as  it  was 
carried  up  the  hill  at  3  a.m.  to  the  tomb,  all  uttering  in 
unison  a  low  and  measured  wail  as  they  went.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  impressive  and  solemn.  The  fol- 
lowing morning,  an  audience  was  given  to  invited 
guests  for  the  expression  of  condolences  and  farewells. 

Since  the  Emperor  had  been  so  long  at  the  Russian 
Legation,  much  uneasiness  from  fear  of  a  preponderance 
of  Russian  influence  had  been  felt.  Poor  Korea  was 
always  in  dread  of  her  powerful  neighbors :  now  China, 
now  Japan,  now  Russia.  The  Queen  had  tried  to  play 
off  one  against  the  other,  seeking  all  the  while,  as  well, 
to  win  the  good  offices  of  Western  powers,  especially 
England  and  the  United  States.  After  the  declaration 
of  Korea's  real  independence,  following  the  Chino- 
Japanese  War,  an  Independence  Club  had  been  organ- 
ized to  emphasize  this  fact;  an  Independence  Arch  was 
erected  near  the  palace  where  formerly  tribute  was  paid 
to  China,  and  a  large  building,  called  Independence  Hall, 
was  set  apart  for  the  official  proceedings  of  the  club. 

This  club  was  very  popular  with  all  Koreans,  its  real 
object  being  to  keep  Korea  independent  of  all  foreign 
powers  and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  usurpation  of 
office  by  foreigners,  to  stand  for  the  rights  of  the  people 
and  autonomy  of  the  nation.     Mr.  So  Jay  Pil   (called 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     185 

in  English,  Philip  Jaisohn),  a  gifted,  brilliant  and  elo- 
quent man  of  high  family  who  had  been  educated  in 
the  best  American  institutions,  was  at  the  head  of  this 
club.  He  had  always  stood  for  reform  and  had  been 
obliged  to  flee  the  country  on  account  of  belonging  to 
the  Progressive  Party,  which  had  been  responsible  for 
the  insurrection  of  1884.  He  was  impatient,  precipitate 
and  lacking  in  diplomatic  tact,  and  so  made  many  bitter 
enemies,  and  so  did  not  succeed  very  well  in  gaining 
his  ends,  and  ere  long  returned  to  America.  Mr.  Yun 
Chee  Ho  followed  Mr.  So  in  the  presidency  of  the  club. 
He  was  the  son  of  General  Yun,  of  whom  I  have  written. 
He  also  had  been  educated  abroad  and  was  a  fine  writer 
and  speaker,  an  enthusiastic  patriot  and  progressionist, 
and  a  man  of  exceptional  ability.  These  leaders  attracted 
many  young  men,  impulsive  and  patriotic,  but  lacking  in 
patience,  perseverance  and  sound  judgment. 

Korea  seemed  at  this  time,  February,  1898,  to  be  com- 
ing completely  under  the  sway  of  Russia,  and  this  club 
offered  a  petition  to  the  Emperor  to  remove  all  Russians 
from  government  and  army  offices.  The  Emperor  having 
stated  his  wish  that  this  should  be  done,  the  Russians 
were  all  withdrawn.  Port  Arthur  was  ceded  by  Russia 
to  Japan  in  April,  1898,  and  this  was  thought  to  have 
had  much  to  do  with  the  retirement  of  Russians  from 
Korea. 

The  Independence  Club  now  grew  very  popular,  cen- 
sured objectionable  officials,  and  their  unjust  laws,  and 
its  members  were  full  of  hope  that  Korea  would  soon 
have  a  free  government  and  people.  They  held  large 
mass  meetings.     The  whole  population  was  stirred  and 


186  Underwood  of  Korea 

petitions  were  sent  to  the  Government  asking  for  reforms 
and  greater  liberties. 

According  to  old  custom,  they  made  direct  appeals  to 
the  Emperor,  sitting  by  thousands  night  and  day  before 
the  palace  and  waiting  for  fourteen  days  to  be  heard. 
After  some  days  the  Peddlers'  Guild,  a  very  strong  and 
well  organized  body  of  men,  who  in  return  for  certain 
business  privileges  granted  by  the  Government,  were 
Under  contract  to  serve  it  as  a  military  force  when  called 
upon  to  do  so,  were  brought  in  and  they  made  an  attack 
on  those  unarmed,  peaceful  citizens.  The  Independents 
drove  them  out  of  the  city,  and  the  Emperor  actually 
came  out  finally  and  in  the  presence  of  foreign  ministers 
and  Korean  officials,  promised  all  they  asked,  but  never 
kept  those  solemn  promises  and,  when  the  people  again 
tried  to  assemble,  bodies  of  soldiers  and  police  were 
stationed  all  over  the  city,  many  arrests  were  made, 
parties  of  even  three  or  four  were  dispersed,  meetings 
were  prevented,  the  Independents'  buildings  and  prop- 
erty were  confiscated,  and  they  were  abolished  as  a  club. 
The  time  was  not  ripe,  the  nation  was  not  ready,  Chris- 
tianity had  not  yet  sufficiently  prepared  them  for  liberty. 

While  the  populace  were  all  thinking  only  of  inde- 
pendence, of  which  most  of  them  understood  little  and 
which  many  of  them  confused  with  license  and  freedom 
to  do  as  they  pleased,  it  v^as  natural  that  the  infection 
should  spread  to  the  church.  So  information  reached 
the  mission  that  the  Central  City  Church  had  decided 
to  throw  off  all  mission  control  and  proclaim  them- 
selves an  independent  body.  Much  anxiety  as  to  the 
outcome  was  felt.  There  was  at  that  time  either  no 
regular  foreign  missionary  pastor  or  he  was  away  on 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     187 

furlough.  The  church  was  not  paying  its  own  running 
expenses.  Dr.  Underwood  was  sure  all  would  come  out 
well  in  the  end  and  advised  awaiting  developments.  About 
a  week  or  so  after  he  had  first  heard  these  rumors,  he  was 
approached  by  a  committee  from  the  recalcitrant  church, 
who  came  to  tell  him  of  the  step  they  had  taken  and 
to  ask  him  to  take  charge  of  their  services  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday,  when  they  intended  to  begin  their  new 
denomination.  It  was  significant  that,  on  the  very  occa- 
sion when  they  were  to  demonstrate  their  rebellion  from 
church  authority  and  throw  ofT  the  advice  and  help  of 
their  missionary  fathers,  they  should  turn  to  a  foreigner 
and  a  missionary  and  ask  his  presence  and  countenance. 
It  was  very  characteristic,  too,  of  the  man  that  he  at  once 
consented  to  go. 

Again  his  friends  protested.  ''What,  go  and  en- 
courage them  in  their  wrongdoing?  Go  and  preach  to 
a  rebellious  body?  Let  them  first  come  and  repent  and 
ask  to  be  received  back  into  the  fold."  But  he  said 
he  would  preach  to  any  body  of  people  who  wanted 
him;  he  could  never  refuse  such  a  request.  So,  at  the 
appointed  time,  he  was  there  on  the  platform.  They 
had  prepared  an  independence  hymn,  in  which  they 
clearly  stated  their  views.  Their  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence written  out  on  the  blackboard  looked  more  like 
the  platform  of  a  society  of  anarchists  than  of  Christians. 

After  the  opening  exercises.  Dr.  Underwood  gave 
them  a  sermon  on  independence  and  interdependence. 
He  asked  them  if  it  was  possible  in  this  world  for  any 
man  or  body  of  men  to  be  entirely  independent;  he 
asked  if  they  wished  to  be  independent  of  Jesus  and, 
as  they  did  not,  could  they  be  independent  of  His  church 


188  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  His  commands.  They  could  not  certainly  be  inde- 
pendent of  each  other,  and,  in  short,  he  gently  but 
clearly  made  them  see  the  impossibility  of  their  position 
and  showed  them  the  true  attitude  of  the  Christian  who 
neither  lives  nor  dies  to  himself,  and  the  independence 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which,  in  distinction  from 
priest-ridden  societies,  is  democratic  and  self-ruling. 
After  that  Sabbath,  there  was  nothing  more  heard  of 
independence  either  in  that  church  or  any  other  with 
which  he  had  any  connection.  I  believe  they  brought 
the  deeds  of  their  new  building  and  gave  them  to  him, 
but  I  am  not  certain  about  the  details  of  the  settlement. 
I  know  this  large  church  came  meekly  back  into  the 
fold,  led  by  their  gentle  shepherd,  just  like  foolish,  wan- 
dering sheep,  needing  guidance,  not  censure. 

In  Dr.  Underwood's  annual  report  to  the  mission  for 
1898,  we  find  that  he  had  worked  in  Bible  translation 
on  the  New  Testament,  but  had  also,  according  to  ar- 
rangement, made  an  individual  translation  of  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  Psalms.  He  had  prepared  the  Sunday 
School  lessons  and  prayer-meeting  topics,  as  usual,  and 
enlarged  the  "Christian  News,"  making  it  a  lo-page 
weekly,  with  special  editions  for  special  days,  as  Easter, 
Christmas,  Thanksgiving  and  the  like.  He  had  prepared 
and  published  a  very  attractive  sheet  in  colors,  showing 
for  the  foreign  and  Chinese  calendars,  the  dates  of 
Easter  and  Christmas,  phases  of  the  moon,  a  picture  of 
the  Nativity,  appropriate  verses  from  the  Bible,  topics 
for  prayer-meetings  and  other  articles  of  interest,  with 
directions  how  to  find  the  Seoul  churches  and  pastors. 
This  calendar  was  immensely  popular  and  the  receipts 
from  its  sale  more  than  paid  the  cost  of  publication. 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     1 89 

The  prayer-meeting  topics  had  also  been  arranged  in  a 
little  booklet. 

He  had  thus  published  and  distributed  during  the  year 
1,756,000  pages. 

He  and  Dr.  Avison  who  had  arrived  in  '93  had,  at 
the  request  of  our  mission  and  the  Australian  Board 
visited  Fusan  for  a  month  to  help  in  the  adjustment 
of  some  difficulties  in  their  mission.  It  was  one  of  those 
chapters  of  misunderstandings  which  are  only  too  likely 
to  occur  in  lonely,  poorly  manned  stations.  Careful 
sifting  showed  that  nobody  was  to  blame  except  in  so  far 
as  they  had  allowed  themselves  too  readily  to  entertain 
suspicions  of  one  another  and  judge  too  readily  from 
appearances. 

He  had  made  three  country  itinerating  trips,  occupy- 
ing ten  weeks,  during  which  books  were  sold,  inquirers 
examined  and  baptized.  Christians  admonished,  and  the 
sacraments  administered. 

In  his  Seoul  church,  then  called  the  Sai  Mun  An 
church,  the  members  had  held  thirty-seven  meetings  each 
week  in  seventeen  different  places  and  its  Young  Peoples* 
Missionary  Society  had  worked  in  two  different  parts  of 
the  city;  forty-two  had  been  baptized  in  this  church  and 
forty-eight  received  as  catechumens.  Class  leaders, 
Sunday  School  teachers  and  church  officers  had  met  at 
his  house  once  each  week  for  Bible  study  and  conference 
about  the  work.  In  the  district  of  Tong  Jin,  in  two 
neighborhoods,  all  signs  of  heathen  worship  had  been 
abolished.  The  Sai  Mun  An  church  in  Seoul  and  the 
Chang  Yun  church  in  the  country  had  each  sent  out  a 
number  of  evangelists,  supported  by  the  members  of  the 
churches.     He   had   a  number  of   book-shops  running. 


190  Underwood  of  Korea 

largely  self-supporting.  In  Whang  Hai  Province,  the 
Christians  had  built  one  new  church  and,  in  other  places, 
secured  three  buildings  for  services  and  repaired  three 
others  to  be  used  for  places  of  worship,  while  funds  for 
two  more  had  been  raised  among  the  natives.  The  Chris- 
tians there  had  supported  two  teachers  and  three  evangel- 
ists and  employed  temporarily  a  number  of  others.  There 
were  at  that  time  in  the  part  of  Whang  Hai  under  his 
care,  nine  organized  self-supporting  churches,  fourteen 
church  buildings,  forty-two  meeting  places  (as  rooms  in 
Christian  homes)  and  ninety-two  weekly  meetings  were 
regularly  held.  During  the  year  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  had  been  baptized,  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  cate- 
chumens received,  and  the  native  church  in  this  province 
now  had  on  its  records  six  hundred  and  forty-two  commu- 
nicants, and  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  catechumens: 
that  is,  altogether,  nine  hundred  and  ninety- four  profess- 
ing Christians,  who  had  thrown  away  their  idols  and  were 
following  Christ. 

It  perhaps  should  be  said  that  catechumens  are  those 
who  have  applied  for  baptism,  have  put  away  their 
heathen  customs,  are  trying  to  live  as  Christians,  but 
who  had  not  yet  been  baptized  and  received  as  full  church 
members. 

Training  classes  for  helpers  and  Bible  study  classes 
of  about  ten  days  each  had  been  held,  meaning  several 
hours  of  personal  teaching  and  singing,  and  evening  evan- 
gelistic services  each  day  during  each  class. 

In  this  report,  one  story  was  told  which  deserves  re- 
peating, because  it  shows  so  much  the  character  of  the 
work,  the  manner  of  its  advancement  and  the  character 
of  the  worker  and  the  missionary.    Mr.  Shin,  working  in 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     191 

Haing  Ju  and  the  villages  on  that  side  of  the  river,  had 
one  day  had  a  strange  dream.  He  thought  that  Won 
Moksa  (Pastor  Underwood)  came  up  to  him  as  he  lay 
sleeping  and,  poking  him  with  his  walking  stick,  which 
he  was  accustomed  to  carry  in  the  country,  said :  "Wake 
up,  wake  up !  Why  are  you  sleeping  here  ?  They  need  you 
in  Tong  Jin."  The  dream  seemed  so  real  he  started  up, 
but,  seeing  no  one,  fell  back  and  again  slept  and  dreamed 
the  same  thing.  This  was  repeated  a  third  time,  when 
he  felt  sure  it  was  a  message  from  God  and,  although 
he  had  heard  of  no  beginnings  there  across  the  river, 
he  went  at  once  and  found  that  another  Christian  had 
been  there  distributing  tracts,  that  much  interest  had  been 
aroused  and  that  the  people  were  needing  a  teacher  and 
helper.    In  that  place  a  strong  church  was  built  up. 

The  report  for  1899  is  very  similar  to  that  of  1898. 
A  booklet  of  prayer-meeting  topics  had  been  prepared 
by  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  then  Dr.  Underwood's  secretary, 
and  the  topics  for  the  Week  of  Prayer  had  been  pub- 
lished in  the  "News"  early  enough  to  be  used  in  the 
country.  This  when  mails  were  so  slow  from  America 
was  quite  a  feat.  They  were  printed  on  separate  sheets 
of  the  paper,  so  as  to  be  usable  in  the  churches.  He  had 
made  five  country  trips,  spending  twelve  weeks  and 
walking  one  thousand  miles,  had  held  training  classes  in 
four  different  places,  and  received  by  baptism  and  as  cate- 
chumens five  hundred  and  forty-eight  people  and  had, 
of  course,  continued,  as  usual,  the  Bible  translation  and 
other  literary  work. 

On  one  of  his  country  trips  he  was  accompanied  by 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Grierson  and  Mr.  McRae  (out  from 
Canada  in  the  fall  of  1898),  who  wished  to  learn  some- 


192  Underwood  of  Korea 

thing  of  the  people  and  of  his  methods  of  work.  The 
training  class  for  helpers  was  held  that  year  at  Hai  Ju, 
the  capital  of  Whang  Hai  province  on  the  west  coast 
of  Korea.  He  taught  five  hours  each  day  in  this  class, 
one  hour  each  afternoon  was  given  to  street  preach- 
ing, in  which  our  Canadian  friends,  with  singing,  with 
the  cornet  and  with  tract  distribution,  were  of  great  as- 
sistance. In  addition,  a  general  meeting  for  prayer  and 
Bible  study  was  held  every  evening.  When  the  class 
was  over.  Dr.  Underwood  made  the  usual  circuit  of  that 
part  of  the  province  under  his  care,  finding  a  surprisingly 
large  number  of  new  centers  of  Christian  life  since  he 
was  last  there.  It  was  touching  to  see  the  devotion 
of  the  people  to  him;  the  enthusiasm  with  which  they 
came  miles  to  meet  him  and  the  unwillingness  to  part, 
which  they  showed  by  accompanying  him  long  distances 
when  he  left,  some  of  the  young  men  begging  to  be 
allowed  to  go  on  with  him  to  other  villages  to  study 
more.  Where  there  were  promising  young  Christians,  he 
often  took  them  with  him  and,  in  rare  instances,  brought 
them  up  to  Seoul  and  helped  them  with  an  education. 
The  poor  people  called  him  "father"  since  he  had  awak- 
ened them  to  spiritual  life.  When  he  visited  the  Chris- 
tian groups,  they  brought  forth  the  best  they  had  for  his 
entertainment :  chickens,  eggs,  honey,  venison,  pheasants, 
persimmons,  nuts  and  candy,  in  such  quantities  that  we 
could  not  possibly  eat  them  all,  and  found  them  rather  a 
problem  for  our  loads.  It  would  never  do  to  refuse,  and 
hurt  the  people's  feelings,  and  yet  we  hated  to  be  taking 
from  them  what  was  too  much  for  them  out  of  their 
poverty  to  give. 

In   1900,   Dr.   Underwood  again  took  his   family  to 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     1 93 

Whang  Hai  Province,  where  he  was  to  hold  a  training 
class  in  the  town  of  Chang  Yun  and  where  Miss  Whit- 
ing, M.D.  (now  Mrs.  Owen),  and  the  writer  were  to 
hold  a  women's  class  at  the  same  time.  Time  was  to  be 
saved  by  going  in  a  little  Korean  steamer  which  had 
lately  begun  to  ply  on  the  coast.  It  had  two  tiny  cabins, 
neither  of  which  was  high  enough  for  a  person  of  or- 
dinary height  to  stand  erect  in,  which  were  usually 
crowded  with  people  of  all  classes,  Koreans,  Chinese  and 
Japanese,  all  smoking  till  the  air  was  thick;  some  of 
them  were  drinking  altogether  too  much  of  both  their 
native  and  foreign  liquors.  The  boat  followed  the  river 
northwards  until  it  reached  the  sea,  an  arm  of  which  it 
was  necessary  to  cross  to  reach  the  port  of  Hai  Ju. 
At  the  time  this  particular  trip  was  made,  the  river  was 
full  of  great  blocks  of  ice,  much  larger  than  our  boat, 
each  of  which  seemed  to  threaten  its  destruction,  but, 
though  sustaining  frequent  and  rather  severe  shocks,  the 
little  vessel  made  its  way  through  to  the  sea.  We  found 
the  sea  very  rough,  as  it  usually  is  at  that  place,  and 
passed  a  more  than  disagreeable  three  or  four  hours. 
Arriving  at  the  port  at  low  tide,  there  was  nothing  for 
it  but,  tired  and  cold  though  we  were,  to  tramp  to  the 
shore  through  snow  and  mud  almost  to  our  knees,  only  to 
learn  that  there  were  no  conveyances  to  be  had  that  night 
(it  wa^  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock)  to  carry  us  the 
three  and  one-half  miles  to  Hai  Ju,  and  neither  the  women 
nor  the  child  could  walk  that  far,  as  one  was  rheumatic 
and  the  others  very  tired  and  exhausted.  There  was 
but  one  room  to  be  had  in  that  wretched,  little  fishing 
port,  and  it  had  no  way  of  being  warmed.  So,  wet, 
tired  and  supperless,  we  lay  down  to  sleep  as  best  we 


194  Underwood  of  Korea 

could,  Miss  Whiting  only  remarking  with  some  fervor 
that,  if  any  one  supposed  we  did  this  for  the  sake  of 
the  salaries  we  received,  she  wished  they  would  come 
and  try  it.  As  for  Dr.  Underwood,  he  was  concerned 
for  his  wife  and  delicate  child,  but  no  word  or  sign  of 
annoyance  escaped  him.  He  laughed  at  inconveniences, 
made  the  best  of  everything,  and  tried  to  cheer  his  rather 
gloomy  family.  It  was,  in  fact,  hard  to  be  gloomy  or 
discontented  long  under  any  conditions  in  his  company. 

Nearly  all  the  local  leaders  and  pastors  from  the 
country  groups  within  reasonable  distance  of  Hai  Ju  at- 
tended this  class.  They  organized  a  Home  Missionary 
Society  on  their  own  initiative  and  arranged  to  work 
in  couples,  each  two  being  assigned  four  unbelieving 
villages  to  be  visited  at  least  once  each  month,  each  man 
pledging  himself  to  do  this  every  Sunday  during  the  year. 
Two  superintendents  were  chosen  to  oversee  this  work 
and  report  to  Dr.  Underwood.  All  were  to  go  at  their 
own  expense. 

There  were  many  interesting  people  in  all  these  vil- 
lages. One  was  a  woman  whose  burden  of  sin  had  weighed 
heavily  for  years  till  she  heard  of  One  who  could  forgive 
and  wash  them  away,  a  peddler  who  was  regularly  los- 
ing heavily  because  she  would  not  sell  goods  on  Sunday, 
which  was  often  Fair  Day  in  a  country  where  people 
buy  only  at  the  fairs.  There  were  others  also  who  gave 
up  liquor-selling,  their  chief  source  of  profit,  and  others 
who  gave  their  ancestral  stones  as  steps  for  the  church. 
One  deaf  old  woman,  though  most  anxious  to  be  bap- 
tized, seemed  unable  to  either  hear  or  answer  questions. 
At  length,  one  question  reached  her:  ''Where  do  you 
desire  to  go  when  you  die?"    "To  Jesus/'  was  her  en- 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     195 

raptured  answer.    No  talk  of  Heaven  or  crown  or  golden 
streets:  Jesus  only  was  her  one  hope. 

At  the  next  place,  we  were  entertained  in  a  house  from 
which  a  child  very  ill  with  smallpox  was  removed  to 
give  us  a  room,  as  we  learned  just  as  we  were  leaving; 
in  that  village  there  were  cases  of  that  disease  in  nearly 
every  house. 

Farther  on  we  found  two  villages  of  believing  moun- 
taineers, to  whom  the  Word  had  been  carried  by  an  old 
Christian  woman  who  had  moved  there  with  her  son 
from  Sorai. 

On  this  circuit  Dr.  Underwood  had  examined  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  people,  baptized  seventy-five,  and  had 
received  about  forty. 

In  the  fall  of  1900,  we  visited  Pyeng  Yang  to  at- 
tend an  annual  meeting  of  the  mission,  and  thence  we 
started  on  another  long  country  trip  with  three  young 
ladies.  Misses  Whiting,  Chase  and  Nourse  (now  Mrs. 
Welbon)  in  our  company.  The  first  was  to  help  in 
conducting  women's  classes,  while  the  second  was  need- 
ing a  tonic  of  outdoor  life,  and  the  third,  who  was  a 
newcomer  that  year,  wished  to  study  the  people,  the  lan- 
guage and  missionary  methods.  Since  Dr.  Underwood's 
death,  the  last  of  the  three  has  written  me  that  the  greatest 
inspiration  of  her  mission  life  has  been  what  she  saw 
of  his  zeal  and  devotion  on  that  trip. 

At  this  time,  there  were  in  Pyeng  Yang  a  total  of 
2042  enrolled  Christians,  including  catechumens  as  well 
as  full  members,  and,  in  addition,  a  large  number  of 
adherents,*  showing  how  the  church  had  been  growing 
in  the  North. 

♦Those  who  attend  services  and  are  members  of  Christian 
families  and  friendly  to  Christianity  are  called  "adherents." 


196  Underwood  of  Korea 

We  traveled  from  Pyeng  Yang  to  Chin  Nam  Po  on 
a  tiny  Japanese  steamer  and  from  there  crossed  the  river 
in  a  wretched  old  junk,  which,  had  the  weather  not  been 
calm,  appeared  likely  to  have  upset  with  us  all,  so  dilapi- 
dated and  so  unseaworthy  was  it.  The  night  was  hot, 
the  inns  were  like  ovens  and  full  of  undesirable  insects, 
so  we  hurried  on  to  Eul  Yul,  where  the  men's  and 
women's  classes  were  to  be  held. 

The  native  Christians  of  Eul  Yul  decided  at  that  time 
to  employ  two  evangelists  to  work  among  the  unbelievers 
of  that  district  and  that  they  would  hold  twelve  training 
classes  in  the  different  districts  of  that  province  during 
the  year,  six  in  charge  of  Mr.  Soh,  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  experienced  Christians,  and  six  taught  by 
another  leader. 

At  our  next  stopping  place,  there  were  few  Christians, 
and  it  was  amusing  to  see  how  the  more  respectable 
among  the  unbelievers  generally  stayed  outside,  at  first 
unwilling  to  be  seen  among  us,  and  then,  little  by  little  as 
they  heard,  came  within  the  doors  and  finally  took  seats 
at  the  front,  ready  to  acknowledge  that  it  was  "very 
good." 

>  Crossing  a  mountain  pass.  Dr.  Underwood's  party 
found  themselves  again  at  Sorai.  From  there,  according 
to  previous  arrangement,  he  sailed  across  the  sea  about 
twenty-five  miles  to  the  Island  of  White  Wings,  where  a 
most  earnest  group  of  Christians  had  lately  begun  to  form. 
A  man  who  had  been  banished  to  that  place  had  been 
given  a  Bible,  became  converted  through  reading  it, 
began  to  tell  his  neighbors,  and  so  a  little  church  had 
started. 

Thus  we  saw  how  at  Kok  San,  at  Eul  Yul  and  at 


Advocate— Peacemaker — Ambassador     197 

White  Wings,  whole  groups  were  saved  through  the 
printed  Word,  and  there  were  many  similar  cases  all  over 
the  country. 

The  people  of  White  Wings  sent  a  deputation  to  the 
mainland  to  ask  Mr.  Soh  to  come  and  teach  them,  bought 
books,  gave  up  their  heathen  worship,  and  built  a  little 
church.  They  greeted  Dr.  Underwood  as  an  angel  from 
God,  hung  upon  his  words  and  seemed  never  to  be  able  to 
get  enough  teaching.  Those  who  could  not  get  close 
enough  to  him,  the  women  and  some  of  the  farm  hands, 
gathered  around  his  wife  and  Mrs.  Kim,  a  Christian  who 
had  accompanied  us,  and  listened,  full  of  delight,  to  the 
words  of  Jesus  and  the  hymns,  of  which  Korean  women 
are  especially  fond.  It  was  very  hard  to  tear  ourselves 
away  from  those  eager  people. 

On  the  trip  back  to  Sorai,  the  little  boat  was  over- 
taken by  a  severe  storm,  which  threatened  to  engulf  her, 
the  whole  party  were  frightfully  sea-sick',  but,  as  Dr. 
Underwood  recovered  breath  from  each  attack,  he  would 
begin  to  sing,  quite  incorrigibly  cheerful,  even  in  such 
dampening  circumstances.    The  song,  however,  was  one 
of  the  Salvation  Army  hymns  which  he  had  just  been 
translating  to  the  effect  that  ''You  must  be  a  lover  of 
the  Lord  or  you  can't  go  to  Heaven  when  you  die," 
and  the  refrain,  in  minor  key,  "When  you  die,  when  you 
die,  when  you  come  to  die,"  seemed  to  the  disturbed  mind 
of  the  writer  to  wail  itself  out  in  peculiarly  mournful 
cadence,  as  she  piteously  besought  him  not  to  sing  that 
song  at   that   time.     He  laughingly  apologized,   saying 
he  had  not  thought  how  it  would  sound.    But  soon  again 
he   was   unconsciously   repeating   that   doleful    refrain, 


198  Underwood  of  Korea 

'When  you  die,  when  you  come  to  die,"  until  another 
agonized  protest  awoke  him  to  the  situation. 

We  could  not  make  our  proper  harbor,  but  had  to 
land  at  the  nearest  shore,  where,  the  tide  being  out,  our 
boat  was  bumped  about  on  the  stones  and  getting  ashore 
safe  and  dry  was  a  matter  of  no  small  difficulty. 

That  evening  we  were  again  in  Sorai,  which,  under  the 
circumstances,  seemea  almost  Hke  home.  A  thanksgiving 
service  was  held  before  we  left  and  they  thanked  God 
for  spiritual  harvest,  as  well  as  for  rice  and  grain,  for, 
during  the  year,  over  two  hundred  people  had  been  bap- 
tized through  their  labors,  and  many  catechumens  had 
been  received ;  they  had  been  able  to  enlarge  their  church 
and  school-rooms,  had  built  houses  for  their  evangelists 
and  school-teacher  and  another  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers  who  came  long  distances  every  Sunday  to 
church. 

Some  missionary  who  had  stopped  for  a  time  in 
Sorai  had  believed  in  and  recommended  immersion  and 
some  of  the  Sorai  people  thought  they  would  prefer  that 
form  of  baptism,  but  supposed  Dr.  Underwood  would  not 
allow  it.  They  were  surprised  to  find  that  he  was  per- 
fectly ready  to  administer  baptism  in  that  way  if  they 
wished  it.  He,  however,  explained  to  them  his  reasons 
for  preferring  sprinkling,  and  while,  if  he  had  opposed 
them,  there  might  have  been  division,  as  it  was,  in  the 
end,  no  one  persisted  in  requesting  immersion. 

His  attitude  toward  the  Baptists  was  shown  when  some 
Baptist  missionaries  came  to  Korea.  He  greeted  their 
coming  with  delight  and  was  very  desirous  that  they 
should  be  asked  to  join  our  Council  of  Missions,  but 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador     199 

was  overruled  by  the  majority  of  our  mission,  an  attitude 
which  grieved  him  much. 

We  proceeded  from  Sorai  back  to  Hai  Ju  to  take  the 
boat  for  Seoul,  for  which  we  were  obliged  to  wait  a 
few  days,  but,  scarcely  had  we  arrived  in  Hai  Ju  when 
a  swift  runner  came  from  Eul  Yul  with  the  astound- 
ing news  that  a  secret  letter  was  being  sent  from 
the  Government  in  Seoul  to  the  various  magistrates  in 
that  province  ordering  all  Confucianists  to  gather  on 
the  second  of  the  next  month,  about  fifteen  days  later, 
at  the  nearest  worshiping  place  in  each  district,  and 
go  from  thence  in  a  body  to  kill  all  Westerners,  and  all 
followers  of  the  foreign  religion,  and  to  destroy  all  their 
houses,  schools  and  churches.  A  friend  of  missions,  a 
relative  of  one  of  the  leading  Christians  in  Eul  Yul, 
who  held  a  petty  office,  was  in  a  magistrate's  room  when 
this  arrived  and,  seeing  the  alarm  and  dismay  it  excited 
and  the  care  with  which  it  was  immediately  locked  up, 
found  means  to  pick  the  lock  and  read  it.  At  once,  the 
message  was  sent  to  Dr.  Underwood  by  the  swiftest  run- 
ner and  we  were  fairly  stunned  as  we  thought  of  the 
happy,  harmless  groups  of  Christians  we  had  just  left, 
scattered  all  over  the  province,  all  so  full  of  their  new- 
found joy,  helpless  women  and  babes  and  aged  grand- 
parents, all  doomed  to  brutal  destruction.  It  was  simply 
heartbreaking.  For  ourselves,  we  were  in  one  of  the 
most  evil  of  Korean  cities,  and  were  the  observed  of 
all  observers,  objects  of  the  most  intense  curiosity,  and 
could  not  stir  out  of  our  dwelling  day  or  night  without 
being  seen  by  dozens  of  people.  The  port  was  three 
miles  away  and,  though  we  should  start  ever  so  quietly, 
even  at  dead  of  night,  it  would  be  known  and,  should 


200  Underwood  of  Korea 

any  one  wish  to  stop  us,  it  would  be  very  easy.  We 
had  two  young  ladies  and  a  child  in  our  party.  The  gov- 
ernor was  apparently  friendly,  had  known  Dr.  Under- 
wood long,  but  how  much  this  friendship  would  amount 
to  with  such  a  letter  in  his  hands,  it  was  impossible  to 
say.  One  thing  was  certain :  we  must  get  a  message 
to  our  Legation  in  Seoul  as  quickly  and  secretly  as 
possible.  Knowing  that,  if  we  were  being  watched  with 
any  inimical  intent,  any  telegram  sent  to  the  American 
Legation  would  arouse  suspicion  and  be  intercepted  and, 
that  for  a  telegram  in  almost  any  modern  language,  some 
interpreter  could  be  found  by  the  Government,  Dr. 
Underwood  decided  to  send  one  in  Latin  to  Dr.  Avison. 
He  brushed  up  his  Latin,  which  he  had  kept  somewhat  in 
use  by  frequent  reference  in  translating  a  Latin  Bible, 
and  by  consulting  his  small  son's  Latin  grammar  on  one 
or  two  doubtful  points  soon  had  a  message  ready, 
relating  the  order  stated  in  the  edict  and  the  date  set 
for  its  accomplishment.  This  fell  like  a  bomb  on  the 
quiet  missionary  and  foreign  community  in  Seoul.  The 
Latin  telegram,  as  soon  as  deciphered,  was  carried  to  the 
Legation,  where  at  first  its  news  was  scouted  as  impos- 
sible and  incredible,  but  those  who  knew  Dr.  Under- 
wood best  remembered  that  he  was  not  an  alarmist  or 
ready  to  believe  or  pass  on  mere  rumors.  The  minister 
had  a  confereice  with  the  Korean  Foreign  Office,  where, 
in  spite  of  blustering  denials,  skillful  cross-questioning 
brought  out  admissions  which  proved  clearly  that  the 
conservative  anti-foreign  party,  probably  inspired  by 
recent  Boxer  doings  in  China,  and  influenced  perhaps  by 
one  or  two  strongly  Buddhistic  palace  favorites,  had 
secured   the   Emperor's    seal   and   sent   out   this   order. 


Advocate — Peacemaker — Ambassador    201 

Through  other  Christians  in  touch  with  the  Government, 
the  same  news  had  been  carried  to  missionaries  in  the 
Island  of  Kangwha  and  to  some  one  in  the  North. 

As  soon  as  Dr.  Underwood  had  sent  his  message  to 
Seoul,  he  ^so  sent  swift  runners  to  Pyeng  Yang  and  to 
the  Romanist  priests  in  Whang  Hai  Province.  The  for- 
eign legations  soon  saw  to  it  that  another  circular  letter, 
strictly  countermanding  the  first,  was  sent,  and  all  turned 
out  well. 

As  for  us  in  Hai  Ju,  we  were  anything  but  easy  at  the 
time.  We  did  not,  of  course,  know  what  was  going  on  in 
Seoul  or  when  disaster  might  fall  upon  ourselves.  Impa- 
tiently we  waited  for  the  steamer  that  was  to  take  us  from 
Hai  Ju,  but  Dr.  Underwood  said  he  could  not  go  and 
leave  these  defenseless  people  to  be  massacred  wholesale, 
with  no  pastor  to  comfort  or  help  them.  We  tried  to 
show  him  that,  with  his  own  life  threatened,  he  could  do 
nothing  for  them,  but  he  could  not  resign  himself  to 
going  away  from  them.  But  when  he  learned  that  no  such 
sacrifice  was  called  for,  unmolested,  we  all  made  our  way 
to  Seoul  together.  There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that 
had  he  not  been  able  to  warn  our  minister  so  promptly, 
it  might  have  been  too  late  and  very  different  results 
might  have  followed. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  BROADENING  RIVER 

IN  the  fall  of  1900,  the  whole  New  Testament  was 
published.  It  was  not  yet  entirely  the  work  of  the 
whole  Board:  some  of  the  books  were  done  only 
by  one  individual  to  be  later  revised  by  the  whole  Board 
in  united  session.  Those  earlier  translations  were  ten- 
tative. On  account  of  the  press  of  evangelistic  work  and 
lack  of  missionaries,  it  was  not  possible  to  hold  regular 
sessions  during  the  whole  year,  but  individuals  could 
snatch  an  hour  or  so  at  odd  times,  early  in  the  morning 
or  late  at  night,  and  so  prepare  usable  translations  which 
could  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  These  tenta- 
tive translations,  after  judicious  use  by  missionaries  who 
would  consult  Korean  scholars  on  doubtful  points,  formed 
a  practical  basis  for  the  Board's  later  official  version. 

To  celebrate  the  joyful  event  of  the  completion  of  the 
volume,  a  thanksgiving  service  was  held.  Members  of  the 
Board  of  Translators  and  their  native  literary  helpers 
were  presented  by  the  American  Minister,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  service,  with  copies  of  the  book,  and  appre- 
ciative words  were  spoken.  The  Board  at  that  time 
consisted  of  Rev.  H.  G.  Appenzeller,  Rev.  James  S. 
Gale,  Rev.  W.  D.  Reynolds,  Dr.  Underwood  and  Rev. 
W.  B.  Scranton.  Dr.  Underwood  was  then  chairman  of 
the  Board  and  remained  so  till  his  death. 

202 


O 
H 

-^  ~  ^^  ;^ 

H    ^^^=^ 

2     S"    V> 


The  Broadening  River  203 

Dr.  Underwood  had  felt  for  a  long  time  that  a  special 
evangelistic  effort  should  be  made  for  the  nobility  and 
gentry.  They  seemed  to  be  hedged  about  with  all  sorts 
of  hindrances  to  their  acceptance  of  Christianity.  Every 
official  must  worship  on  the  regular  occasions  when  the 
Emperor  bowed  before  the  royal  shrines.  In  most  cases 
the  official  was  the  head  of  a  great  group  of  families  and 
had  charge  of  the  worship  tablets  for  the  entire  house,  as 
well  as  oversight  of  important  graves,  where  regular 
services  and  sacrifices  were  offered  on  numerous  official 
mourning  days.  In  addition,  with  scarcely  an  exception, 
they  each  had  at  least  two,  if  not  more,  wives,  with  fam- 
ilies and  children,  to  whom  most  of  them  were  sincerely 
attached,  more,  indeed,  in  most  cases,  to  the  second 
than  to  the  first  wife  to  whom  they  had  been  united 
when  very  young  by  parental  arrangement.  So  every 
social,  political  and  religious  influence  of  their  lives 
seemed  to  shut  them  out  from  the  church.  To  give  up 
all  hope  of  future  political  honors  or  resign  what  one 
had;  to  tear  from  one's  heart  the  wife  and  children  of 
his  tenderest  affection ;  to  lose  his  income,  and  bring  dis- 
aster on  his  home,  to  bring  about  his  ears  the  angry 
accusations  of  his  whole  clan  and  ostracize  himself  from 
his  peers,  was  something  which  would  naturally  make 
even  a  believing  nobleman  hesitate  long.  To  accept  the 
new  faith  demanded  tremendous  sacrifices.  But  Dr. 
Underwood  always  hoped  for  the  conversion  of  every  one 
and,  almost  impossible  as  the  situation  seemed,  he  yearned 
over  them  and  was  always  trying  in  one  way  or  another 
to  win  them.  He  certainly  won  their  very  hearty  friend- 
ship, of  which  they  were  continually  giving  evidence,  by 
sending  him  gifts  of  specially  fine  fruits,  or  Korean  ar- 


204  Underwood  of  Korea 

tides  of  interest,  handsome  screens,  or  perhaps  a  photo- 
graph of  the  sender,  with  frequent  visits,  invitations  and 
marked  attentions  at  public  functions. 

Knowing  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  ask  them  to 
attend  church.  Dr.  Underwood  sent  out  invitations  to  a 
large  number  to  come  to  his  house  to  talk  over  questions 
of  religion.  This  call  met  a  very  hearty  response  and 
Korean  gentlemen  of  the  highest  rank  filled  our  two 
large  rooms.  There  were  princes,  generals,  members 
of  the  cabinet;  all  men  of  the  highest  families.  They 
listened  with  the  closest  attention,  many  of  them  asking 
thoughtful  questions,  showing  a  real  concern  in  what 
was  said;  some  asked  for  books,  and  many  called  again 
and  again  to  talk  in  private,  like  Nicodemus  of  old. 
Meetings  were  held  regularly  Sunday  afternoons,  and 
a  stereopticon  exhibition  was  given  one  evening  showing 
a  series  of  scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ.  Dr.  Under- 
wood usually  had  some  other  missionary  with  him  on 
those  occasions  who  also  could  speak  Korean  freely  and 
win  and  hold  the  attention  of  his  audience.  Though  I 
do  not  remember  that  there  were  any  direct  conversions 
at  that  time,  some  of  the  men  later  did  become  Chris- 
tians; they  all  became,  at  least,  the  friends  and  well- 
wishers  of  the  Gospel,  were  not  averse  to  seeing  mem- 
bers of  their  families  baptized,  and  some  of  them 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  Christianity  was  the  power 
that  was  needed  to  purify  and  uplift  the  nation. 

About  this  time  Dr.  Underwood  was  approached  with 
a  suggestion  that  he  should  help  them  establish  a  State 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Korea.  The  Emperor  himself  and 
all  the  Court  were  to  be  baptized.  Fearing  the  power  and 
influence  of  Russia,  they  dreaded  the  possibility  of  being 


The  Broadening  River  205 

forced  to  join  the  Greek  Church,  which  would  make 
them  practically  the  subjects  of  the  Czar,  and  preferred, 
if  they  must  adopt  another  religion,  to  adopt  that  of  the 
disinterested  Americans  rather  than  that  of  one  of  their 
encroaching  neighbors.  Dr.  Underwood  was,  of  course, 
obliged  reluctantly  to  refuse  this  offer  and  to  explain 
that  not  thus  were  our  churches  organized,  nor  were 
people  received  into  the  church  in  this  way.  However, 
when  disaster  smote  the  devoted  little  country  and  many 
of  these  men  were  in  prison  or  hiding,  in  jeopardy  of  their 
lives,  some  of  them  remembered  the  teaching  they  had 
heard  and  became  true  Christians. 

About  this  time  we  were  compelled  to  take  a  sea  trip 
to  Vladivostock  on  account  of  illness  in  our  family. 
We  crossed  to  Japan  and  so  up  the  coast  of  Korea,  tak- 
ing the  new  hospital  ship — prepared  in  view  of  a  possible 
approaching  war — on  its  first  voyage.  We  stopped  a  few 
days  in  Wonsan  and  saw  our  friends,  the  Griersons, 
Footes  and  Mr.  MacRae,  recently  located  in  their  new 
field.  By  the  time  we  found  ourselves  back  in  Seoul, 
the  change  and  sea  air  had  worked  entire  recovery,  but, 
before  that  sea  trip,  there  had  been  many  weeks  when 
I  was  a  helpless  invalid.  About  that  time  Dr.  Underwood 
assisted  in  nursing  Dr.  Avison,  then  very  low  with  typhus 
fever,  of  which  there  were  several  cases  among  mis- 
sionaries at  that  time. 

That  Christianity  is  the  great  leveler  of  classes  and 
the  destroyer  of  man-made  distinctions  of  rank  has  been 
shown  in  Korea,  as  well  as  in  every  other  land  where  its 
influence  has  been  felt ;  but  obviously  this  can  come  only 
after  Christianity  has  been  accepted  and  has  worked 
its  wonders  in  people's  hearts.    Even  in  democratic  Amer- 


206  Underwood  of  Korea 

ica,  the  attendants  of  poorer  missions  and  Fifth  Avenue 
congregations  do  not  often  mingle;  so  much  more  the 
aristocracy  and  even  the  upper  middle  classes  of  ancient 
Korea  scorn  to  be  seen  in  the  company  of  the  classes 
to  whom,  on  account  of  their  very  need,  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  comes  with  the  greatest  appeal. 

The  representatives  of  Christianity  had,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  early  received  the  favor  of  officialdom: 
the  princes  of  the  realm  had  delighted  to  honor  many 
among  the  missionary  force.  But  how  to  bring  these 
same  men  into  touch  with  the  vitalizing  force  of  the 
Gospel  was  something  Dr.  Underwood  had  long  pon- 
dered. Members  of  the  aristocracy  and  the  younger 
set,  who  prided  themselves  on  their  station  would  never 
set  foot  inside  of  a  church  where  their  spotless  robes 
might  be  soiled  by  contact  with  the  garments  of  a 
former  slave,  or  where  they  themselves  might  be 
spoken  to  by  a  coolie.  Pondering,  praying,  talking,  Dr. 
Underwood  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  club  would 
solve  this  problem.  In  the  Korea  of  that  day  there 
were  no  places  of  evening  amusement,  and  a  club 
which  would  provide  entertainment,  instruction  and  a 
meeting-place  would  have  many  times  the  attractive- 
ness of  a  similar  institution  in  America.  Where  to  go 
to  find  backing  and  support  for  a  Christian  club  was 
easily  answered.  After  consultation  with  his  friend  and 
associate  of  the  Methodist  mission,  Mr.  Appenzeller, 
Dr.  Underwood  and  he  each  prepared  a  letter  to  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  America.  Mails  were  slow  in  those  days, 
but  at  last  came  word  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  ready 
to  seize  the  opportunity  and  would  come  over  and  help 
us.    Still  better,  the  secretary,  Mr.  P.  L.  Gillette,  young, 


The  Broadening  River  207 

full  of  energy  and  enthusiasm,  came  in  1901.  His 
enthusiasm  was  all  needed  and  used  at  first  in  the  study 
of  the  language.  Dr.  Underwood  bent  every  energy 
toward  preparing  the  way,  talking,  suggesting,  commu- 
nicating his  enthusiasm  to  others.  Largely  through  his 
efforts,  a  suitable  site  was  secured,  a  part  of  it  being 
given  by  a  Korean  gentleman,  whose  heart  was  touched 
to  do  something  for  his  people  by  Dr.  Underwood's  story 
of  what  people  in  far  away  America  were  ready  to  do 
for  his  fellow-countrymen. 

In  1903,  the  Association  started  work  in  earnest,  with 
Rev.  J.  S.  Gale  as  its  first  president  and,  within  a  few 
months,  263  members  had  been  enrolled.  The  work 
was  that  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  the  world  over  and  need 
not  be  described  here ;  but  its  appeal  to  the  Koreans  was 
greater  even  than  had  been  hoped.  Having  survived  the 
period  of  its  initial  difficulties,  it  has  gone  on  and  on  until 
to-day  it  is  one  of  the  largest  single  institutions  in  Korea 
and  its  influence  extends  into  most  of  the  schools.  Chris- 
tian and  non-Christian,  in  the  country. 

Dr.  Underwood's  interest  in  and  enthusiasm  for  the 
work  never  flagged,  and  we  shall  in  further  chapters 
have  frequent  cause  to  speak  of  his  efforts  for  it,  teaching, 
acting  on  its  Board  of  Directors,  as  its  president,  and  in 
these  capacities  piloting  it  through  several  of  the  stormy 
and  difficult  passages  which  come  to  every  such  insti- 
tution. 

About  this  time,  Dr.  Underwood  had  a  curious  bicycle 
accident.  There  is  in  the  city  of  Seoul  a  great  open 
drain  with  a  hard,  stony,  pebbly  bottom,  which  is  ajt 
most  times  of  the  year  nearly  or  quite  dry,  but  in  the 
rainy  season  carries  a  roaring  torrent  to  the  river.    This 


208  Underwood  of  Korea 

lies  ten  or  twelve  feet  below  the  streets  and  is  crossed 
at  intervals  by  stone  bridges.  These  have  no  parapets  or 
side  guards  of  any  kind  and  are  often  rather  crowded  by 
oxen,  chairs,  pack-ponies,  men,  women  and  children  pass- 
ing and  repassing  on  not  too  wide  a  space.  In  the  dry 
season,  when  there  was  no  water  in  the  drain,  Dr. 
Underwood  was  crossing  one  of  those  bridges  on  his 
bicycle,  when  suddenly  he  saw  directly  in  front  of  him, 
almost  under  the  wheel,  a  little  child  who,  no  doubt, 
had  darted  there  to  escape  some  ox  or  pony.  It  was 
impossible  to  stop  quickly  enough  and  there  was  no 
way  to  turn,  for,  just  at  that  moment,  the  place  at  his 
right  side  was  occupied,  while  at  the  left  was  the  edge  of 
the  bridge.  He  saw  in  an  instant  the  only  way  to  save 
the  child  was  to  turn  his  wheel  off  the  bridge.  This  he 
did  with  splendid  recklessness.  He  took  a  straight  fall  of 
ten  or  twelve  feet  to  the  stones  below  and  escaped,  abso- 
lutely unhiirt,  although  rather  severely  shaken.  This  has 
always  seemed  to  the  writer  little  less  than  a  miracle, 
an  apparent  instance  of  angels  hfting  him  up  in  their 
hands  lest  he  dash  his  feet  against  a  stone.  Perhaps 
most  of  us  would  have  done  what  he  did,  after  taking  time 
to  decide  what  should  be  done,  but  the  sudden  grasp 
of  the  situation  and  the  instantaneous  decision  were 
very  characteristic  of  him. 

During  this  year,  our  mission  was  asked  to  sell  our 
house  and  property  to  the  Government.  The  property 
lay  between  the  American  and  Russian  Legations  and 
opposite  the  French.  Not  only  our  own  home,  but  that 
of  two  other  missionaries,  stood  on  this  large  and  desir- 
able site,  and  His  Majesty,  it  was  said,  desired  to  build 
a   residence   there.     Dr.    Underwood   heard   this   with 


The  Broadening  River  209 

much  regret,  for  the  house  was  very  centrally  located 
for  his  work,  near  the  city  church,  easy  of  access  and 
known  to  all  the  Christians,  as  well  as  to  nearly  every- 
body else  in  Seoul.  There  were  purely  personal  reasons, 
too:  he  had  lived  there  for  fifteen  years;  there  he  had 
taken  his  bride;  there  his  child  had  been  born,  and  a 
thousand  tender  associations  centered  around  the  place; 
the  garden  was  full  of  beautiful  flowering  plants  and 
vines,  fruit  trees  and  bushes,  for  he  loved  flowers  and 
found  almost  his  only  physical  pleasure  in  caring  for 
them.  With  his  brother's  financial  assistance,  he  had 
improved  the  house,  putting  in  the  steam-heater,  hot  and 
cold  water,  great  fire-places  in  three  rooms,  and  a  small 
conservatory.  All  this  had  taken  time  and  strength  as 
well  as  money.  Houses  in  Seoul  were  not  to  be  had  for 
either  love  or  money  and  the  sale  of  this  would  mean 
the  expenditure  of  more  time  and  labor  in  building 
another.  At  his  brother's  instance,  he  had  offered  to 
buy  the  property  from  the  mission  about  two  years  pre- 
viously, but  there  seemed  to  be  a  strong  objection  on 
the  part  of  several  to  his  having  his  private  home,  and 
he  was  promised  that,  if  he  would  give  up  the  idea,  the 
house  should  always  be  considered  his  residence.  As  the 
feeling  seemed  to  be  so  positive,  he  yielded  his  own 
wishes,  as  he  invariably  did  when  the  question  was  not 
one  of  principle,  but  now  the  mission  thought  he  ought 
to  relax  his  claim  and  allow  the  Government  to  buy  the 
place. 

It  was  stated  that  the  Emperor  had  called  the  Ameri- 
can Minister  and  asked  him  to  order  the  mission  to  sell 
that  property.  The  latter  carefully  explained,  to  His 
Majesty's  amazement,  that  the  Minister  had  no  power 


210  Underwood  of  Korea 

to  order  any  Americans  to  sell.  'Well,  then  cable  to 
Washington  and  ask  the  Government  to  order  them  to 
sell,"  was  the  reply.  There  was  still  greater  astonish- 
ment when  the  ruler  was  told  that  even  the  American 
Government  had  no  power  whatever  to  force  the  hum- 
blest American  to  sell  against  his  will.  So  our  Minister 
came,  urging  only  that  to  displease  the  ruler  would  be 
bad  policy  for  our  work.  Dr.  Underwood,  recognizing 
that  the  welfare  of  the  work  came  before  everything  else, 
decided  that  the  house  and  garden  must  go. 

The  house  was  sold,  much  of  the  furniture  auctioned 
ofif  and  the  rest  carefully  packed  away  since  Dr.  Under- 
wood's furlough  was  nearly  due,  and  he  was  not  sure 
whether  he  could  occupy  the  house  on  his  return. 

Another  matter  which  called  for  great  wisdom  and 
patience  at  that  time  on  his  part  and  that  of  Dr.  Avison, 
was  the  very  active  opposition  carried  on  against  the  new 
hospital  which  the  Doctor  was  then  planning  to  build. 
Mr.  Severance  had  given  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the 
erection  and  equipment  of  the  new  building.  Not  so 
very  large  a  sum  for  a  hospital  when  we  think  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  and  even  millions  that  go  into 
American  hospitals,  where  they  are  not  half  so  much 
needed  as  in  the  Orient,  where  there  are  comparatively 
none.  It  was  a  generous  gift  for  one  man,  especially 
taken  together  with  his  many  other  benefactions,  but 
not  too  much,  hardly  enough,  indeed,  as  it  turned  out, 
for  a  well-built,  well-equipped  hospital  in  Korea.  So 
Dr.  Underwood  felt,  and  warmly  supported  Dr.  Avi- 
son in  his  determination  to  have  the  best  sort  of  build- 
ing possible.  The  objectors  seemed  to  fear  that  too 
good  a  hospital  would  mean  the  extension  of  institu- 


The  Broadening  River  211 

tionalism  in  the  mission,  and  institutionalism,  they 
feared,  would  crowd  out  evangelism  and  spirituality. 
Cases  were  cited  of  missions  in  other  countries  in  the 
East  where  evangelistic  work  seemed  to  have  been 
crowded  out  by  educational  and  medical  institutions. 
They  desired  Dr.  Avison  to  promise  that,  if  they  con- 
sented to  his  using  the  ten  thousand  dollars,  he  would 
never  ask  any  more,  and  they  voted  that  the  Seoul  hos- 
pital should  never  have  more  than  one  doctor.  Dr.  Avi- 
son and  Dr.  Underwood,  supported  by  their  whole  sta- 
tion, refused  to  adopt  such  a  policy  and  carried  the  matter 
to  the  Board.  Subsequent  developments  in  Korea  and 
other  fields  have  demonstrated  the  spiritual  as  well  as 
physical  value  of  medical  missions  on  an  adequate  scale. 

Reading  the  life  of  Mr.  Moody  the  other  day,  I  came 
across  a  few  sentences  which  struck  me  as  exactly  de- 
picting Dr.  Underwood's  character  and  experiences  in 
his  mission:  "It  has  been  remarked  that  Mr.  Moody 
frequently  determined  upon  a  course  that  did  not  appear 
wise  to  his  friends.  This  meant  that  their  perspective 
was  confused  by  what  appeared  to  be  insurmountable 
obtacles.  Such  obstructions  never  obscured  Mr.  Moody's 
vision:  if  once  he  thought  an  object  worth  attaining,  he 
undertook  its  achievement  with  an  enthusiasm  and  vigor 
equaled  only  by  his  determined  perseverance.  Many 
of  his  enterprises  would  have  been  abandoned  by  a  less 
courageous  and  persistent  character.  For  him  obstacles 
were  only  an  incentive  to  greater  effort."  This  is  an 
exact  pen-picture  of  Dr.  Underwood,  except  that  Mr. 
Moody  was  comparatively  free  to  do  as  he  liked,  in  spite 
of  opposition,  while  Dr.  Underwood  sometimes  could  not 
follow  out  what  he  saw  to  be  best,  without  a  clash  or 


212  Underwood  of  Korea 

a  rupture  with  the  mission  he  loved.  The  Board  in 
America  decided  on  carrying  forward  the  more  hberal 
poHcy  with  reference  to  medical  work,  and  the  Severance 
Union  Medical  College  and  Hospital,  costing  ultimately 
some  $150,000  instead  of  the  $10,000  which  was  then 
thought  to  be  too  great  a  sum,  has  come  to  be  regarded 
by  all  as  one  of  the  most  helpful  factors  in  the  Christian- 
izing efforts  of  the  missions.  In  fact,  it  has  now  the 
support  of  all  the  missions  and  commands  their  hearty 
cooperation. 

In  1901,  his  regular  furlough  being  due,  he  and  his 
family  turned  their  faces  toward  the  homeland.  As 
neither  the  time  nor  expense  was  very  different  whether 
the  journey  was  made  via  the  Pacific  or  the  Indian  Ocean, 
he  chose  the  latter,  as  he  had  been  advised  not  to  visit 
America  until  he  had  had  a  period  of  entire  rest  in 
some  European  country,  where  the  language  would  be 
an  obstacle  to  his  making  addresses.  We  landed  at 
Naples  and  enjoyed  greatly  the  music,  the  people  and 
the  lovely  bay.  We  visited  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii, 
studying  with  intense  interest  those  ruins  which  tell  such 
a  heartbreaking  story  of  how  httle  civilization  and  art 
can  do  for  the  moral  uplift  of  a  people;  where  beauties 
of  nature,  combined  with  everything  that  art  could  devise, 
seemed  to  have  accomplished  absolutely  nothing  toward 
the  redemption  of  the  higher  nature. 

In  Rome,  while  in  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  taken  with  a  severe  chill  followed  by  fever.  It 
was  an  unhealthy  season  in  Rome,  and  Roman  fever,  that 
dread  of  tourists,  seemed  to  threaten.  But  there  was  work 
still  for  him  to  do  and,  in  a  day  or  so,  he  rallied  and  we 
proceeded  on  our  journey,  stopping  a  few  days  each  in 


Severance  Hospital  and  Surroundings 


The  Broadening  River  213 

Florence  and  Venice,  but  hastening,  as  the  season  was 
too  late  for  a  long  stay  in  those  unhealthy  cities.  So  we 
hurried  on  to  Lucerne,  where  we  expected  to  spend  a 
few  weeks  of  summer  in  some  inexpensive  pension. 

But  illness  again  attacked  him  soon  after  reaching 
Switzerland.  The  doctor  ordered  perfect  rest  and  strict 
quiet.  So  what  had  been  intended  only  as  a  rest  for 
the  mind  from  heavy  responsibilities  and  exhausting 
literary  work  became  an  enforced  rest  of  body  as  well. 
He  found  a  very  attractive  farmhouse  pension  with 
extremely  modest  rates,  affording  a  wonderful  view  of 
lake  and  mountains,  with  good  and  plenteous,  though  sim- 
ple, food,  and  very  good  neighbors,  in  the  little  village 
of  Wegis  on  Lake  Lucerne,  and  here  he  settled  down  with 
his  family  for  the  summer  months. 

In  the  fall,  he  was  somewhat  improved  and  we  moved 
on  to  Paris.  Shortly  after  we  found  ourselves  in  London, 
where  we  greeted  the  relatives,  who  were  now  a  smaller 
circle  than  before.  He  saw  the  Tract  and  Bible  Society 
agents  and  made  a  few  addresses.  We  then  hurried 
on  to  America  via  Antwerp. 

He  was  now  much  better  and  ready  to  take  up  his 
American  work  of  arousing  a  deeper  interest  in  Korea 
in  the  mind  of  the  church  and  of  getting  more  men  and 
money  for  the  work.  Back  and  forth  he  went,  north, 
south,  east  and  west,  almost  without  cessation,  covering 
thousands  of  miles,  traveling  when  possible  at  night  and 
making  addresses  in  the  days  and  evenings. 

While  in  America  on  this  furlough  Dr.  Underwood 
preached  the  baccalaureate  sermon  on  Commencement 
Sunday  at  New  York  University,  and  also  delivered  an 
address  on  missions  to  an  immense  audience  in  Carnegie 


214  Underwood  of  Korea 

Hall  on  foreign  missions  night  of  the  General  Assembly 
then  convening  in  New  York.  He  seemed  as  little  elated 
by  the  liberal  praise  his  address  received  as  he  was  dis- 
couraged or  disheartened  by  obstacles  and  opposition. 

As  usual,  when  in  America,  the  family  made  their  home 
with  his  brother  or  sisters.  After  a  short  visit  in  the  early 
summer  to  Ocean  Grove,  where  both  his  sisters  had 
gone  with  their  families,  we  started  westward  on  the 
way  back  to  Korea,  and,  by  request  of  those  in  charge, 
went  to  the  conference  at  Winona  for  a  week,  where  he 
was  to  address  some  of  the  meetings.  There  he  met  a 
large  number  of  the  most  influential  evangelistic  leaders 
of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  XII 
GLOOM  AND  GLEAM 

SOME  months  after  our  return  from  America,  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  trouble  In  the  Province  of 
Whang  Hai,  part  of  which  territory  was  in  Dr. 
Underwood's  pastoral  care,  caused  by  the  action  of  cer- 
tain Romanists  who  extorted  money  from  the  farmers 
and  peasants  and  defied  and  even  arrested  officers  of  the 
law.  They  were  incited  to  this,  apparently,  by  a  priest 
who,  we  have  since  been  forced  to  believe,  had  become 
insane  through  long  solitude.  At  any  rate,  both  his  own 
conduct  and  that  of  his  immediate  followers  seemed  irra- 
tional. Dr.  Underwood,  who  had  known  him,  having 
met  him  on  several  of  his  trips,  would  not  at  first 
believe  he  was  cognizant  of  what  was  being  done,  and 
wrote  him  a  kindly  letter;  but  he  replied  in  a  very 
defiant  way,  frankly  admitting  all  that  he  was  charged 
with  and  defending  it.  The  people  who  were  tortured, 
robbed  and  forced  to  give  up  the  deeds  of  their  farms 
were  in  many  cases  heathen,  but  quite  a  number  of 
Christians,  too,  were  among  them,  and  their  complaints 
began  to  come  to  the  ears  of  the  missionaries.  Two 
or  three  of  the  farmers  had  carried  their  troubles  to  the 
French  Legation,  but  no  attention  was  paid  until  they 
began  to  publish  the  m.atter  in  the  Korean  daily  papers. 
Perhaps  they  had  not  been  understood  before,  but  now 

215 


216  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  French  Minister  asked  the  Government  to  have  the 
men  beaten  and  imprisoned.  Dr.  Gale  and  Dr.  Underwood 
then  went  to  the  Foreign  Office  and  pleaded  in  their  behalf 
and  also  took  the  matter  to  our  own  American  Minister, 
Dr.  Allen.  The  latter  arranged  for  the  Korean  Govern- 
ment to  have  a  commission  appointed  to  go  to  the  capital 
of  the  Province,  Hai  Ju,  and  investigate.  Dr.  Under- 
wood and  Dr.  Moffett  of  our  mission  were  requested 
to  be  present  and  make  sure  of  a  true  report  of  pro- 
ceedings lest  Koreans  might  be  bribed  or  intimidated  in 
telling  the  tale.  Every  art  was  tried  to  block  and  delay 
proceedings,  to  annoy  and  overawe  the  judge  and,  by 
special  messengers,  telegrams  and  letters  to  the  Govern- 
ment in  Seoul,  to  limit  his  power,  hinder  his  work  and 
undermine  him  at  the  capital.  Dr.  Underwood  watched 
the  case  very  closely  and  thought  the  trials  were  carried 
on  with  great  justice,  wisdom  and  equity.  The  commis- 
sioner, however,  was  at  last  wearied  and  bullied  into 
sending  his  resignation  to  Seoul,  which,  however,  was 
not  accepted.  All  the  charges  were  fully  proved.  Drs.  Un- 
derwood and  Moffett  spent  some  weeks  in  Hai  Ju  care- 
fully studying  these  matters.  It  proved  to  be  a  regular 
system  of  blackmail  laid  on  the  whole  community.  The 
people  were  really  on  the  verge  of  insurrection  when 
the  commission  was  appointed.  The  result  of  the  trials 
was,  so  far  as  retribution  was  concerned,  most  unsatis- 
factory, though  those  who  could  be  brought  to  trial 
were  proved  guilty;  the  majority,  who  could  not  be 
caught,  went  scot-free.  However,  the  atrocities  ceased 
and  no  more  has  been  heard  of  such  doings  in  Korea 
from  that  time  to  this.  So,  as  a  preventive  measure, 
the  trial  in  the  presence  of  Americans  did  good. 


Gloom  and  Gleam  217 

The  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
was  opened  in  1902  with  Dr.  Moffett  in  charge.  Its 
first  graduates  were  ordained  in  1907.  From  its  be- 
ginning, after  his  return,  Dr.  Underwood  taught  several 
hours  each  day  in  different  classes  during  the  three 
months  when  it  was  in  session,  but  later,  when  other 
work  pressed  too  heavily,  only  during  six  weeks,  some 
other  missionary  taking  his  place  during  the  other  half 
of  the  term.  Often  Dr.  Gale  and  he  alternated  in  this 
way. 

On  our  return  from  America,  we  re-entered  our  old 
home,  which  the  Government  was  not  yet  ready  to  take 
over,  and,  indeed,  it  would  have  been  hard  to  find  a 
place  elsewhere  to  bestow  ourselves.  Dr.  Underwood 
had  yet  to  find  a  site  on  which  to  build  his  house. 
He  had  decided  to  build  at  his  own  expense,  rather  than 
at  that  of  the  mission,  wishing  to  add,  as  before,  the 
steam-heater,  bathrooms  and  conservatory,  none  of  which 
would  he  allow  the  Board  to  supply  for  him,  even  had  it 
been  able  and  willing  to  do  so,  and  he  deemed  it  best 
to  own  a  place  which  he  could  build  according  to  his 
personal  needs  and  tastes. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  add  a  word  of  explanation 
here.  Although  he  was  very  far  from  being,  as  some 
people  said,  a  "millionaire  missionary,"  he  had  some 
means  of  his  own,  and  was  able  to  build  a  good  house. 
Owing  to  his  very  careful  oversight  of  the  work  and 
the  cutting  out  of  non-essentials  here  and  there,  barring 
the  steam-heater  and  bathrooms  it  cost  less  than  some 
of  the  mission  houses  which  did  not  look  so  large. 

In  the  matter  of  getting  a  site  for  his  new  home,  he 
had  a  great  deal  of   trouble.     A  dishonest  land  agent 


218  Underwood  of  Korea 

secretly  bought  up  a  large  part  of  the  site  which  Dr.  Un- 
derwood had  selected,  after  a  few  of  the  small  owners 
had  been  bargained  with ;  so  that,  with  more  money  than 
he  felt  able  to  throw  away  already  spent,  the  remainder 
of  the  little  lots  necessary  to  a  good  site  suddenly 
rose  to  what  was  to  him  a  prohibitive  price.  The  agent, 
no  doubt,  working  on  the  millionaire  theory  thought 
that,  to  save  what  he  had  already  bought,  Dr.  Under- 
wood would  pay  anything.  The  whole  affair  seemed 
to  have  reached  a  deadlock.  Time  pressed  and  he  de- 
cided to  risk  the  loss  of  the  already  inviested  money, 
and  seek  another  site.  One  was  soon  found  with  a 
magnificent  outlook,  quite  above  everything  else  in  the 
city.  This  was  easily  purchased  at  a  very  reasonable 
price,  and  men  were  set  to  work  leveling,  preparatory  to 
laying  foundations,  when  suddenly  he  was  informed,  by 
the  arrest  of  all  his  workmen,  that  an  error  had  been 
committed;  the  site  was  not  only  directly  above  a 
temple,  but  it  overlooked  the  distant  palace  grounds. 
He  was  told  that  no  foreigner  might  own  that  land, 
but  if  he  would  give  up  his  title,  anything  else  he 
might  ask  should  be  his.  He  first  insisted  on  the  re- 
lease of  his  innocent  workmen  before  he  would  make 
terms  and  then  willingly  consented  to  choose  another 
place.  He  had  no  wish,  he  said,  to  do  anything  to  dis- 
please the  Korean  Emperor,  so  he  asked  for  the  site 
he  had  first  selected  and  the  Government  people 
bought  it  at  a  fair  price  from  the  dishonest  land  agent 
and  gave  Dr.  Underwood  a  generous  exchange  for  the 
one  on  top  of  the  hill.  This  was  bought  in  the  spring 
of  1903,  and  Dr.  Underwood  at  once  set  to  work  hav- 
ing trees  and  bushes  planted  all  around  the  place  and 


Gloom  and  Gleam  219 

gave  orders  to  take  particular  care  of  every  tree  and 
flowering  shrub  already  there,  for  gardens  and  trees  were 
very  dear  to  his  heart.  He  planned  a  home  much  like 
the  old  Korean  house  in  which  he  had  lived  so  long, 
modernized  and  Americanized  in  everything  that  makes 
for  comfort  and  convenience,  but  still  built  on  the  lines 
of  native  Korean  architecture.  The  hospital  and  homes 
of  doctors  and  nurses  were  being  built  not  far  away,  so 
that  evangelistic  and  medical  workers  might  have  the 
advantage  of  being  near  together. 

Dr.  Underwood  found  on  his  return  from  America 
that  the  Sai  Mun  An  church,  which  had  been  built  by 
the  people's  cholera  funds,  was  now  far  too  small.  The 
congregation  had  steadily  grown  and  there  were  many 
waiting  for  baptism.  The  membership,  which  had  been 
263  in  the  year  1889,  was  401  in  1901.  He  found  them 
carrying  on  five  missions  near  the  city  within  a  radius  of 
five  miles,  where  chapels  had  been  built,  and  they  had  also 
several  other  missions  in  districts  where  services  were 
held  in  private  dwellings.  The  church  members  conducted 
all.  They  had  given  during  one  year  $268.18  gold  for 
school  and  church  expenses,  charity,  and  evangelistic  and 
missionary  work.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  wage 
rate  at  that  time  was  not  more  than  20c.  a  day  and  most 
of  the  people  were  of  the  working  class.  Six  weekly 
Bible  classes  were  held  in  different  neighborhoods  for 
women,  and  several  of  the  women  would  often  go  off 
on  a  six  weeks'  trip  to  the  country  with  one  or  another 
lady  missionary  to  assist  in  mission  work,  only  asking 
their  expenses  in  payment. 

Chan  Dari,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  of  the  Chris- 
tian groups,  under  the  direct  wing  of  the  Sai  Mun  An 


220  Underwood  of  Korea 

church,  had  begun  some  years  before.  A  man  who  had 
been  the  caretaker  of  a  prince's  family  cemetery  be- 
came converted  and,  rather  than  continue  to  prepare  the 
regular  sacrifices  at  these  graves,  had  resigned  his  posi- 
tion, though  it  meant  giving  up  his  whole  income  and  the 
house  in  which  he  had  lived  for  many  years,  and  in  which 
his  children  had  been  born.  But  the  owner  of  the  graves 
would  not  let  him  resign:  he  was  too  old  and  trusted 
a  friend ;  the  prince  would  hire  some  one  else  to  prepare 
the  sacrifices,  Ko  must  stay  and  take  care  of  the  graves. 
So  he  remained  as  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  little  church. 
There  was  another  young  man,  very  erratic  and  impul- 
sive, a  Mr.  Ye,  but  full  of  zeal  and  faith,  whose  energy 
and  enthusiasm  knew  no  bounds.  These  two,  helped  by 
workers  from  the  city,  did  much  in  bringing  the  families 
of  the  village  to  believe  and  in  getting  the  small  chapel 
built.  But  after  a  time,  Plymouth  Brethren  began  to 
disturb  the  growth  of  the  little  company.  Mr.  Ye,  our  er- 
ratic friend,  was  entirely  won  away.  He  began  to  feel  that 
a  church  organization  is  unscriptural,  that  his  pastor  was 
wrong  to  receive  a  salary  and  that  the  church  ought  to 
disband.  Dr.  Underwood  and  some  of  the  leading  Chris- 
tians talked  and  prayed  much  with  the  young  man  and 
with  the  church  members,  most  of  whom  were  eventually 
restored,  but  their  arguments  did  not  affect  our  good  Mr. 
Ye.  Chan  Dari  had  already,  at  the  time  of  our  return, 
been  set  apart  as  a  separate  church.  Our  good  friend, 
Mr.  Hulbert,  preached  there  regularly  for  months  in  Dr. 
Underwood's  absence,  and  also  often  filled  his  pulpit  at 
Sai  Mun  An  church. 

I  believe  it  was  about  this  time  that  one  of  the  most 
formal  official  luncheons  was  given  in  the  summer  pa- 


Gloom  and  Gleam  221 

vlllon  at  the  North  Palace,  at  which  a  guest  of  ex- 
tremely high  rank,  I  believe,  from  Japan  was  to  be 
entertained.  The  grounds  there  are  very  beautiful,  with 
grand  old  trees,  charming  summer-houses,  pretty  lotus 
ponds,  lawns  and  flowering  shrubs.  Foreign  Ministers 
and  their  wives,  with  a  few  of  the  older  missionaries  only 
were  invited.  On  this  ocasion,  the  highest  of  all  the 
Korean  princes  both  in  actual  rank,  official  position  and 
in  royal  favor  showed  a  very  signal  mark  of  regard 
for  Dr.  Underwood,  who,  with  his  wife,  was  unavoid- 
ably late.  Their  places  had  been  removed  and,  before 
another  plate  could  be  laid,  the  Prince  quickly  rose,  gave 
Mrs.  Underwood  his  chair  and,  motioning  away  the  at- 
tendant, served  her  himself.  Considering  oriental  ideas 
of  rank  and  class,  this  was  a  very  remarkable  conde- 
scension, a  special  token  of  friendship  for  the  missionary. 
The  Prince  had  probably  never  before  in  his  life  carried 
a  plate  or  cup  to  serve  any  one  or  even  the  smallest 
article  for  himself. 

On  Dr.  Underwood's  return  from  America,  the  mission 
took  over  his  field  in  the  Province  of  Whang  Hai, 
where  his  earliest  work  had  been  done  and  wonderful 
harvests  had  been  reaped,  where  the  people  loved  him 
as  a  father,  and  where  he  had  seen  the  little  children 
grow  up  to  become  young  men  and  women,  and  the  num- 
ber of  Christians  from  a  handful  to  many  hundreds,  if 
not  thousands.  The  rule  had  been  that  the  mission  could 
not  take  from  a  man  the  field  which  he  had  been  the 
first  to  sow  and  which  he  had  cared  for  and  brought  to 
successful  growth,  without  his  consent,  but,  during  our 
absence,  this  regulation  was  changed  and  his  retention  of 
his  charge  was  left  to  his  own  station  to  decide.    As  this 


222  Underwood  of  Korea 

field  was  very  large  and  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
Seoul,  the  other  missionaries  thought  that,  considering 
his  many  other  responsibilities,  he  could  not  properly 
care  for  it  and  continue  to  do  his  other  work  with  any 
expectation  of  both  being  well  done,  and  so,  though  he 
assured  them  that  he  could  carry  it  all  and  referred  them 
to  past  years  when  he  had  done  so,  they  failed  to  realize 
that  he  could  do  more  than  the  average  man ;  they  did 
not  take  into  account  his  indefatigability,  his  resource- 
fulness, his  power  of  using  others  and  his  ability  to  carry 
a  mountain  of  work;  and  so  the  people  and  their 
beloved  pastor  were  separated.  How  they  pleaded !  How 
they  sent  deputation  after  deputation  begging  their  pastor 
to  come  back !    All  without  effect. 

Perhaps  it  is  God's  way  that,  when  people  seem  to  be 
depending  too  much  on  one  man,  God  removes  him  to 
teach  them  to  begin  to  walk  alone,  and  though  in  the 
beginning  it  may  seem  to  be  harmful,  in  the  end  they 
may  learn  better  how  to  depend  on  God  more  fully, 
on  God  only.  At  the  time  of  this  writing,  again  Koreans 
are  crying:  "We  hoped  in  him,  but  now  our  hope  is 
in  vain!"  "Having  no  one  on  whom  to  rely,  what  is 
there  for  us  to  say!"  How  often  God  takes  away  our 
props,  so  that  we  may  look  only  to  Jesus!  I  say,  per- 
haps this  was  what  God  intended,  though,  in  this  case, 
I  doubt  whether  He  had  more  to  do  with  it  than  to 
allow  it.  He  may  make  it  work  for  good,  but,  looking 
at  it  from  a  human  standpoint,  it  seems  to  have  been  a 
blunder,  carried  out  in  spite  of  the  advice  and  experience 
of  a  senior  missionary.  But  though  Dr.  Underwood  was 
very  sorry,  he  uttered  no  complaint,  and  tried  to  bring 
;the  people  to  be  resigned  to  their  new  bishop;  he  even 


Gloom  and  Gleam  223 

went  into  the  province  at  the  latter's  request  and  held 
the  annual  classes. 

At  about  this  time,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Devins,  editor  of 
"The  Observer,"  of  New  York,  making  a  trip  around 
the  world,  came  to  Korea  for  a  short  visit.  He  was  an 
old  friend  of  Dr.  Underwood's  and  the  latter  desired  very 
much  to  obtain  for  him  a  sight  of  the  beautiful  park, 
gardens  and  charming  buildings  of  the  deserted  and 
so-called  "haunted  palace."  He  found,  on  application 
at  the  American  Legation,  that  for  some  months  the 
palace  had  been  closed  to  all  visitors,  none  of  the  foreign 
officials  of  the  highest  rank  had  been  able  to  obtain 
admission  for  any  one ;  our  minister  had  failed  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  and  said  it  would  be  useless  to  try. 
Dr.  Underwood,  however,  did  not  despair.  He  sent  a 
message  directly  to  the  Emperor,  begging  the  privilege 
of  taking  some  friends  through  the  grounds.  In  reply, 
a  special  permit  was  sent,  with  a  very  kind  message  that 
His  Majesty  could  never  forget  Dr.  Underwood's 
services  to  himself,  and  reminding  him  that  they  were 
brothers. 

Arrived  with  his  friends  at  the  palace  gate,  a  gentle- 
man was  there  waiting  to  conduct  the  party  through  the 
grounds  and,  when  all  had  been  seen,  they  were  taken 
to  a  pavilion,  where  a  delicious  repast  was  waiting,  the 
emperor  having  sent  his  own  cook  to  prepare  the  viands 
in  honor  of  his  friend  and  his  guests.  This  incident 
is  related  merely  to  show  how  warm  was  the  feeling 
v»Aith  which  this  missionary  was  regarded  by  royalty  and 
the  nobility,  as  well  as  by  the  common  people,  the  coun- 
try farmers  and  peasants. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1903,  a  remarkable  revival  begin 


224  Underwood  of  Korea 

in  Wonsan.  The  writer  has  always  believed  that  this 
was  the  first  of  a  wonderful  shower  of  blessings  which 
some  three  years  later  fell  upon  the  whole  native  church 
of  Korea. 

Dr.  Hardie,  who  then  lived  in  Wonsan,  tells  how  two 
Christian  women  had  been  praying  daily  for  an  out- 
pouring of  grace,  and  how  meetings  were  arranged  for. 
He  was  asked  to  prepare  to  lead  the  missionaries  in 
some  weeks  of  Bible  study,  but,  as  he  tried  to  make 
ready,  he  himself  was  convicted  with  deep  and  over- 
whelming grief  and  repentance  for  coldness  and  short- 
comings. He  openly  confessed  before  both  the  Korean 
church  and  the  missionaries,  and  begged  for  their  prayers. 
Others  were  overcome  with  like  conviction  and  re- 
pentance until  all  the  missionaries  and  the  native  Chris- 
tians had  received  a  baptism  as  of  fire.  The  story  of 
the  thrilling  experiences  at  Wonsan  spread  all  over  the 
country  and,  in  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  1906, 
a  very  similar  wonderful  revival  swept  one  of  the  mis- 
sion stations  of  the  Southern  Presbyterians,  and  was 
followed  in  1907  by  the  great  revival  which  spread  all 
over  the  north  wherever  there  were  Christians.  They 
were  all  alike  in  character,  affecting  foreigners  as  well 
as  natives,  marked  by  an  agonizing  sense  of  the  hideous- 
ness  of  even  the  smallest  sin,  which  frequently  felled 
the  penitent  to  the  ground  unconscious  or  in  terrible 
convulsions  of  horror  and  grief.  This  was  followed 
by  confessions  of  every  thought,  word  or  action  com- 
mitted against  God's  holiness.  There  was  prayer  con- 
tinuous and  heartfelt;  whole  congregations  prayed  aloud 
at  the  same  time,  and  wept  and  rejoiced  together. 
Especially  during  the  winter  of  1905  and  1906,  all  over 


Gloom  and  Gleam  225 

the  various  missions,  many  had  been  moved  to  most 
unremitting  prayer  for  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  and  there 
was  a  feeling  everywhere  that  a  blessing  was  coming. 

From  the  remarkable  similarity  of  these  revivals,  there 
is  Httle  doubt  that  the  beginning  was  there  in  that  little 
missionary  community  in  Wonsan,  perhaps  brought 
through  the  prayers  of  those  two  good  women.  Illness  had 
forced  Dr.  Underwood  to  leave  the  country  at  the  time 
of  the  revival  in  the  north,  so  that  he  was  not  privileged 
to  see  it  personally,  but  the  letters  which  reached  him, 
with  vivid  descriptions  from  those  who  had  felt  its  power 
on  the  field,  filled  his  heart  with  holy  joy. 

The  Underwood  Shelter,  not  being  needed  any  longer 
as  a  refuge  for  outcast  sick,  was  at  this  time,  in  1902 
and  1903,  used  as  a  home  for  destitute  children.  Dr. 
Underwood  had  placed  it  at  the  service  of  a  couple  of 
good  women  who,  partly  at  their  own  expense  and 
partly  by  donations  from  various  sources,  were  trying 
to  care  for  and  teach  a  few  little  homeless  children.  A 
committee  of  missionaries,  of  whom  Dr.  Underwood  was 
one,  undertook  the  business  management  and  to  advise 
the  ladies  in  the  varipus  problems  which  came  up  in 
their  work.  Quite  a  number  of  little  ones  were  helped 
and  brought  into  the  fold  of  the  church.  The  time,  care 
and  thought  he  gave  this  home,  in  the  midst  of  all  his 
other  work,  were  considerable. 

In  the  spring  of  1904,  the  palace  in  which  the  Em- 
peror was  residing  burned  down  at  midnight  and  the 
royal  family  came  to  a  so-called  library  building  next 
door  to  the  Underwood  compound,  which  had  been 
fitted  up  to  receive  foreign  or  other  guests  of  distinction, 
and  part  of  the  royal  household  also  occupied  another 


226  Underwood  of  Korea 

residence  almost  directly  back  of  the  Underwood  house, 
next  to  the  Russian  Legation.  There  were  more  com- 
modious palaces,  but  with  bitter  associations  or  not  in 
readiness  for  use,  and  the  Emperor,  since  the  death  of 
his  Queen  and  his  own  forcible  detention,  had  preferred 
to  be  in  the  close  neighborhood  of  foreign  officials. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  fire,  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  informed  that  he  must  vacate  his  house — which, 
it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  sold  some  time  ago — that 
day,  as  it  would  be  needed  by  the  Emperor.  This  was, 
indeed,  startling  news.  His  new  house  was  not  yet  fin- 
ished, scarcely  a  room  was  ready  for  occupancy,  work- 
men were  laying  floors,  painting,  doing  last  things  every- 
where. The  work  had  been  hurried,  but  he  had  been 
assured  there  was  no  haste,  and  one  cannot  hustle  the 
East  beyond  a  certain  point.  He  had  done  much  of 
the  work  of  laying  water-pipes  and  putting  in  the 
heater  and  radiators  with  his  own  hands  in  the  freezing 
winter  weather,  for  there  were  no  skilled  workmen  then 
for  things  like  these.  Pipes  must  be  fitted  and  screws 
cut,  joints  put  in — well,  the  writer  is  only  a  woman  who 
knows  little  of  these  things.  But  to  make  the  house 
what  it  should  be  in  healthfulness,  comfort,  convenience 
and  yet  not  too  costly  and,  at  the  same  time,  not  to 
neglect  his  mission  work,  took  an  expenditure  of  physical 
strength  and  vital  force  equal  to  several  years  of  his 
ordinary  life.  He  plainly  showed  the  strain  at  that  time. 
The  Chinese  contractor,  too,  whom  he  had  engaged, 
tried  to  cheat  him  in  every  possible  way  in  materials,  in 
the  number  of  workmen,  in  the  time,  and  finally  flatly 
refused  to  finish  without  more  pay  than  the  contract  stip- 
ulated.     In    addition,    without    the    greatest    vigilance, 


Gloom  and  Gleam  227 

work  had  frequently  to  be  pulled  out  and  done  over, 
and  at  such  times  the  cooHes  would  strike.  These 
coolies  come  early  in  the  morning,  but  they  stop  for 
a  twenty-minute  smoke  every  two  hours,  which  is  simply 
distracting  to  people  who  are  in  a  hurry  to  get  into  their 
house.  So  that  contractor  had  to  be  got  rid  of,  and 
our  old  friend,  Mr.  Harry  Chang,  took  up  the  task, 
after  which  all  went  well.  I  only  wish  there  were  space 
here  to  tell  what  a  friend  this  Chinese  gentleman  was 
to  Dr.  Underwood  for  nearly  thirty  years  and  in  how 
many  ways  he  showed  him  kindness.  Between  the  two 
men  there  always  existed  the  warmest  respect  and  good 
will. 

However,  doing  the  best  they  could,  the  house  was 
not  done.  The  one  we  were  in  was  sold  and,  when 
royalty  commanded  us  to  go,  there  was  nothing  else  but 
to  go  somewhere.  There  was  a  pretty  fair  Korean  house 
on  our  new  place  in  tolerable  repair  and  Dr.  Under- 
wood planned  for  us  to  camp  there  for  a  time  if  he  could 
only  find  room  for  furniture  and  other  belongings  in 
the  main  house.  There  was  a  room  or  two  in  the  base- 
ment where  he  thought  they  might  be  stored.  So,  before, 
daylight,  the  big  zinc-lined  storing-boxes  were  brought 
up  from  the  cellar ;  pictures,  rugs,  house  linen  and  china 
were  stuffed  in.  Things  were  being  stacked  away 
famously  when,  lo,  another  official  called  and  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  told  the  Emperor  did  not  need  the  house  and 
had  far  rather  he  would  continue  to  keep  it  as  long  as 
he  wished.  No  doubt,  the  earlier  message  had  been  the 
work  of  some  overzealous  official.  This  news  was,  in- 
deed, a  relief.     So  some  of  our  lares  and  penates  were 


228  Underwood  of  Korea 

hustled  out  of  their  beds  and  set  in  their  usual  places 
for  a  few  weeks  more. 

Hardly  was  this  visit  over,  when  there  was  another 
arrival.  The  youngest  prince,  about  seven  years  old, 
an  attractive  little  fellow,  full  of  curiosity  to  see  a  foreign 
house  and  a  foreign  child,  had  come.  Could  he  only 
have  come  alone,  or,  at  most,  with  one  or  two  attendzlnts ! 
But  with  him  surged  in  a  crowd  of  teachers,  interpreters, 
followers  of  all  ranks  and  ages,  a  motley  company,  all 
over  the  place.  Our  things,  of  course,  were  not  yet 
restored  to  order  and  we  had  been  up  practically  all 
night.  However,  the  strictest  formalities  were  neces- 
sary and  the  young  gentleman  was  shown  everything 
and  treated  the  best  the  family  knew.  He  made  two  or 
three  other  visits  at  our  house  that  same  day  and  on 
the  succeeding  ones,  never  seeming  to  tire  of  seeing  our 
son  run,  play  American  games,  climb  trees,  etc.  As  the 
writer  sprained  an  ankle  in  hurrying  to  admit  him  one 
day,  any  amount  of  fruit,  fresh  and  candied,  as  well 
as  flowers,  were  sent  daily  with  kind  inquiries;  in  fact, 
our  little  friend  on  two  or  three  occasions  sent  or  even 
came  before  we  were  up  in  the  morning  to  inquire  con- 
cerning the  invalid. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  JAPANESE  PROTECTORATE 

BEFORE  our  new  house  was  ready,  the  long- 
threatened  clash  came  between  the  Russians  and 
the  Japanese.  The  capital  was  full  of  soldiers ; 
warships  brought  marines  of  every  nationality  to  each  of 
the  Legations,  but,  although  there  were  so  many  soldiers, 
Seoul  was  comparatively  orderly.  The  Japanese  set  to 
work  almost  at  once  building  railroads  and  ordinary  roads 
to  the  north  and  to  Fusan  in  the  south,  making  a  much 
more  direct  route  to  the  straits  of  Shimonoseki,  whence 
troops  could  be  ferried  and  then  transported  by  rail  to 
Manchuria.  While  the  soldiers  were  remarkably  quiet 
and  orderly,  there  were  a  great  many  camp  followers 
who  subjected  both  the  native  populace  and  foreigners 
to  a  great  deal  of  rough  and,  at  times,  brutal  treatment 
thus  giving  their  people  a  bad  name.  Of  course,  the 
Japanese  Government  had  at  that  time  no  means  of  polic- 
ing the  country  or  of  controlling  such  people.  Rough  men 
sometimes  entered  private  houses,  cut  down  trees  in  pri- 
vate gardens,  abused  our  servants,  and  made  themselves 
very  obnoxious  indeed. 

One  incident  which  occurred  about  this  time  is  worth 
relating,  both  as  showing  the  unsettled  condition  in 
Korea  and  the  character  of  Dr.  Underwood.  The  rail- 
road  from  Seoul  to  Wonsan  was  then  in  process  of 

229 


230  Lnderwood  of  Korea 

construction.  It  was  being  laid  just  then  through  the 
village  of  Han  Kang,  not  five  minutes'  walk  from 
our  river  home,  where  a  newly  married  couple  of  mission- 
aries were  spending  their  honeymoon.  Dr.  Underwood 
walked  down  there  one  fall  afternoon  with  his  young 
son  to  conduct  a  religious  service  in  the  village.  The 
keeper  of  the  river  house,  a  former  chair  coolie  of  the 
writer,  an  old  man  of  sixty-five,  joined  him  and  accom- 
panied him  to  the  meeting,  although  he  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian. Returning  in  the  very  late  afternoon,  this  man, 
Kim,  who  was  some  distance  behind  them,  noticed  one 
of  the  Japanese  navvies  using  very  rough  language  and 
harshly  treating  the  Korean  villagers  along  the  river  front 
who  had  not  yet  removed  their  piles  of  lumber  out  of 
the  way.  Kim  remonstrated  with  the  Japanese,  telling 
him  that  the  working  day  was  over,  but  that,  if  he  Would 
wait  until  morning,  all  would  be  done  in  good  time.  At 
this,  the  navvy  turned  furiously  on  Kim  and  in  a  moment 
they  were  pummeling  each  other.  The  old  Korean, 
who  was  far  inferior  in  strength  to  the  other,  lifted 
his  foot  and  gave  his  antagonist  so  fierce  a  kick  that 
he  rolled  over  the  embankment  to  the  shore  below,  howl- 
ing with  pain  and  rage.  This,  at  least,  was  the  ac- 
count we  heard,  for  Dr.  Underwood  was  too  far  in 
advance  to  see  just  what  happened.  Hearing  a  tumult, 
however,  he  retraced  his  steps  and  saw  the  navvy,  breath- 
ing out  threatening  and  slaughter,  on  the  way  to  call  up 
his  friends  and  make  an  end  of  Kim.  Dr.  Underwood's 
first  care  was  to  get  our  rash  coolie  well  out  of  the  way ; 
but  Kim's  blood  was  up  and  he  was  obstinately  deter- 
mined not  to  go.  Dr.  Underwood,  knowing  something  of 
the  character  of  that  class  of  Japanese,  knew  that  the 


The  Japanese  Protectorate  231 

man's  life  would  not  be  worth  a  song  if  he  could  be  found 
on  the  return  of  the  enraged  navvy  with  his  mates ;  so  he 
wrote  a  note  to  his  wife  in  the  city,  five  miles  distant,  and 
ordered  the  man  to  carry  it  at  once  and  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Thinking  it  had  something  to  do  with  the 
trouble  and  accustomed  to  implicit  obedience  in  ordinary 
affairs,  he  hurried  away.  Dr.  Underwood,  realizing  that 
there  would  be  further  developments  soon,  made  his 
way  back  to  the  summer  home,  asked  his  friends 
for  a  cup  of  tea  and,  seating  himself  quietly  on  the 
porch,  began  chatting  and  laughing  with  them  as  though 
nothing  was  the  matter.  Soon  a  crowd  of  village  boys 
and  men  came  running  toward  him  with  every  sign  of 
fear  and  distress,  begging  for  some  hiding  place,  saying 
the  railroad  men  were  beating  everybody.  Young 
Underwood  hid  some  of  them  in  the  cellar  and  out- 
house. Immediately  following  them  came  the  crowd 
of  Japanese  road  coolies  armed  with  pick-ax  handles, 
evidently  on  the  war-path,  and  dragging  a  poor  old 
man  from  the  village  with  them.  They  came  up  to  Dr. 
Underwood  thus  in  a  very  belligerent  attitude,  but  he 
went  on  calmly  sipping  his  tea  as  the  mob  rushed  up 
and  with  loud  and  angry  voices  demanded  to  know  if 
this  was  the  man  who  had  insulted  and  nearly  killed 
his  friend.  He  spoke  to  them  quietly  and  said  the 
man  they  had  captured  was  quite  innocent  and  that  the 
person  they  were  after  was  not  now  on  the  place. 
However,  he  said,  it  was  his  own  servant  and  he  would 
accompany  them  before  the  Consul  next  day  and  produce 
the  man  if  they  wished.  Believing  that  he  had  Kim 
hidden  in  the  house,  they  shouted  that  he  lied,  that  the 
man  was  there  and  they  would  find  and  beat  him.    The)r 


232  Underwood  of  Korea 

gathered  around  the  missionary  threateningly,  and  just 
one  imprudent  word  or  look  would  have  precipitated 
a  serious  affair,  no  doubt,  for,  when  their  blood  is  up, 
such  men  are  rash  and  reckless  of  consequences.  But  Dr. 
Underwood  was  not  excited,  angered  or  frightened:  he 
quietly  reasoned  with  them  as  a  friend;  told  them  again 
he  would  have  the  man  at  the  Consulate  to  meet  them, 
and  that  whoever  had  done  wrong  should  be  punished. 
With  the  soft  answer  that  turns  away  wrath,  he  grad- 
ually soothed  their  anger.  They  quieted  down  and 
walked  away  without  taking  any  revenge.  He  hoped 
the  trouble  was  over  and,  with  much  relief,  made  his 
way  back  to  Seoul.  It  was  a  record  victory,  for  men 
of  that  class  once  enraged  are  almost  uncontrollable.  At 
that  very  period,  a  visiting  Methodist  bishop  with  two 
missionaries  had  been  set  upon  and  badly  beaten  by 
railroad  navvies  in  another  part  of  the  country. 

When  Dr.  Underwood  reached  the  city,  he  met  Kim, 
starting  back  to  the  village,  bracing  his  courage  at  wine- 
shops along  the  way.  He  would  have  needed  it  all,  for 
they  would  have  punished  him  badly  had  they  got  him: 
it  was  more  than  likely  he  would  have  been  killed,  for 
in  those  rough  times  such  deeds  were  not  uncommon, 
though  now  the  country  is  well  policed  and  things  are 
very  different.  Dr.  Underwood,  however,  made  the  man 
return  with  him  to  the  city. 

That  evening  about  eight  or  nine  o'clock  a  distracted 
note  came  from  our  friends  in  the  river  house,  that  the 
navvies  had  returned,  very  boisterous  and  angry,  and 
insisted  on  being  allowed  to  enter  the  house  and  search 
for  the  offender.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall  were  alone  and 
afraid  to  allow  them  to  enter,  hesitated  to  refuse,  and, 


The  Japanese  Protectorate  233 

with  only  a  slight  wire  screen  door  between,  knew  they 
might  force  an  entrance  at  any  minute.  While  they 
were  still  before  the  door,  angry  and  threatening,  the 
note  had  been  sent.  No  time  was  to  be  lost.  After 
trying  in  vain  to  get  a  Japanese  constable  or  some  official, 
Dr.  Underwood  got  a  foreign  friend  and  together  they 
made  their  way  to  the  river.  He  sent  a  note  back, 
to  us  telling  his  family  where  he  had  gone,  that  he  had 
been  unable  to  secure  any  official  help,  and  asking  us 
to  try  to  get  the  American  Minister  to  obtain  some  as- 
sistance. The  writer,  alarmed,  hastened  to  Dr.  Avison's 
house  and  had  some  difficulty  in  arousing  them,  as  he 
was  ill  and  all  the  family  were  asleep  in  bed.  How- 
ever, she  succeeded  in  gaining  an  entrance.  The  doctor 
sent  a  note  to  the  American  Legation,  but  our  Min- 
ister and  his  secretary  were  both  out  at  a  dinner.  Fol- 
lowing them  up,  we  succeeded  in  getting  the  willing 
assistance  of  Mr.  Paddock,  the  secretary,  and  also  of  the 
legation  constable.  Armed  cap-a-pie,  they  hastened  to 
the  river  on  horseback,  but,  before  Dr.  Underwood  and 
his  friend  had  arrived,  the  navvies,  thinking  better  of 
breaking  into  a  foreigner's  house,  went  to  the  keeper's 
cottage,  where  they  found  Mr.  Hall's  cook,  who,  they 
decided,  should  be  a  substitute  for  the  missing  Kim, 
though  he  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  quarrel : 
to  save  face,  there  must  be  a  victim,  and  as  Mr.  Hall's 
man  was  in  the  family  he  must  suffer,  for  they  knew 
they  would  stand  small  chance  of  getting  revenge  at  the 
Consulate,  where,  indeed,  they  would  not  care  to  present 
themselves.  So  the  poor  cook  was  badly  beaten  and 
forced  to  pay  for  tobacco  and  drinks  for  all.  Dr.  Un- 
derwood  found  him  tied  up,  not  knowing  what  more 


234  Underwood  of  Korea 

was  in  store  for  him,  but  the  navvies  released  him  at  the 
request  of  the  missionary.  Dr.  Underwood  stayed  a 
while  with  the  Halls,  till  he  was  quite  certain  that  every- 
thing was  quiet  for  the  night,  and  returned  home,  thank- 
ful that  no  lives  had  been  lost  in  the  affair.  The  sequel 
is  beyond  the  power  of  this  feeble  pen  to  recount.  When 
the  Halls'  cook  came  to  Seoul  the  next  day,  he  had  a 
heart-to-heart  talk  with  Kim,  which  could  be  heard  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away,  on  the  subject  of  substitutionary 
punishment  and  his  opinon  of  a  man  who  ran  off  and  left 
his  friend  to  take  his  beating.  As  for  the  Halls,  they  de- 
cided to  move  back  to  the  city  at  once. 

During  1905  and  1906,  while  Mr.  Hulbert  was  absent, 
Dr.  Underwood  edited  a  monthly,  "The  Korean  Review," 
which  Mr.  Hulbert  had  been  publishing  for  some  years. 
Dr.  Underwood  never  seemed  to  have  so  much  to  do 
that  he  could  not  take  up  some  other  work  or  help  out 
a  friend,  and  Mr.  Hulbert  had  often  rendered  great 
assistance  by  preaching  in  Dr.  Underwood's  pulpits  dur- 
ing his  absence. 

It  was  in  1905  that  the  Japanese,  through  Marquis  Ito, 
requested  the  Emperor  and  his  cabinet  to  sign  a  formal 
application  to  Japan  to  assume  a  protectorate  over  Korea. 
This  was  obtained  after  long  delay  and  very  determined 
resistance  on  the  part  of  General  Han,  the  Premier 
On  the  assumption  of  this  protectorate,  the  country 
formally  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Government  which 
had  practically  held  control  of  it  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  This  had  been  foreseen  by  everybody  for  some 
time,  but  nevertheless  considerable  excitement  resulted 
when  it  actually  occurred.  These  were  times  of  great 
stress  in  the  Korean  court  circles  and  indeed  everywhere 


The  Japanese  Protectorate  235 

through  the  whole  country.  Dr.  Underwood  was  daily 
visited  by  messengers  from  the  Emperor  asking  his 
advice  about  all  sorts  of  matters  pertaining  to  the 
changes  then  taking  place  or  likely  to  occur.  He  was 
urged  repeatedly  by  the  Cabinet  to  undertake  a  daily 
newspaper  under  the  auspices  of  the  Government.  But 
he  was  already  engaged  in  similar  work  in  editing  "The 
Christian  News"  and  could  not  spare  any  greater  pro- 
portion of  his  time  for  editorial  work.  Moreover,  he 
thought  it  imprudent  to  become  involved  in  a  complicated 
political  situation,  and  so  declined.  He  was  also  urged 
to  accompany  a  deputation  which  the  Korean  Emperor 
was  sending  to  America  to  solicit  assistance  in  maintain- 
ing the  independence  of  Korea.  But  for  obvious  reasons 
he  was  compelled  to  decline  this  also.  He  had  been  re- 
peatedly urged  to  accept  the  position  of  Adviser  to  the 
Educational  Department  of  the  Government,  but  this  also 
he  had  felt  unable  to  accept. 

Some  time  before  the  consummation  of  arrangements 
providing  for  the  Protectorate,  the  opportunity  came  to 
Dr.  Underwood  to  take  charge  of  certain  private  invest- 
ments of  the  Emperor.  By  placing  these  under  the  con- 
trol of  American  financiers,  the  interest  of  the  Emperor 
might  have  been  conserved  and  liberal  profit  realized  by 
those  concerned  in  the  negotiations.  But,  although  Dr. 
Underwood  was  ready  to  do  everything  possible  and 
proper  to  help  the  Emperor,  he  foresaw  embarrassment 
to  missionary  work  because  of  the  political  phase  of  par- 
ticipation in  such  an  enterprise.  In  this,  as  in  all  other 
affairs,  great  or  small.  Dr.  Underwood  sought  Divine 
wisdom  and  guidance. 

Shortly   after  the   Protectorate  was   announced,   Dr. 


236  Underwood  of  Korea 

Underwood's  friend.  Prince  Min  Yong  Whan,  committed 
suicide.  He  was  hopeless  of  the  future  independent  career 
of  his  country,  and  according  to  Oriental  ideas  of  patriot- 
ism under  such  circumstances,  preferred  not  to  live  and 
witness  her  humiliation.  He  had  served  his  country  well, 
had  been  a  friend  of  true  progress,  and  was  favorable 
to  Christianity.  He  was  sincerely  mourned  by  multi- 
tudes of  his  countrymen.  There  were  other  suicides 
from  the  same  motive,  and  doubtless  would  have  been 
more  if  Dr.  Underwood,  in  common  with  other  Christian 
teachers,  had  not  taken  a  hopeful  view  of  the  situation, 
inspiring  in  them  a  similar  mental  and  spiritual  attitude. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
FOREGLEAMS  OF  UNION 

WHILE  Dr.  Underwood  was  absent  in  Pyeng 
Yang  in  1905,  at  a  prayer  meeting  held  at  Mr. 
Bunker's  house,  at  which  there  was  a  remark- 
able sense  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
a  deep  feehng  of  spiritual  unity  prevailed,  all  hearts  were 
melted,  denominational  distinctions  seemed  less  important, 
and  a  passionate  desire  for  union  of  all  the  Christian 
forces  in  Korea  dominated  every  mind.  While  the  meet- 
ing was  not  sufficiently  large  or  representative  to  justify 
any  definite  action  at  the  time,  nevertheless,  every  one 
there  carried  away  so  deep  an  impression  of  having  been 
led  directly  by  God's  Spirit,  that  the  matter  was  widely 
talked  about  and  commented  upon  in  all  the  missions 
throughout  the  country.  To  Dr.  Underwood  the  news 
was  very  welcome,  for  he  and  Mr.  Swallen  and  Mr.  Jun- 
kin  had  been  frequently  praying  and  talking  together 
on  the  same  subject.  Mrs.  Moffett,  Mrs.  Baird,  Mrs. 
Swallen  and  Mrs.  Underwood  and  other  missionary 
women  had  also  been  bearing  the  same  burden  of  thought 
and  desire. 

In  the  August  following,  at  a  conference  in  Seoul  for 
Bible  study  among  missionaries,  held  at  the  Methodist 
Girls'  School,  the  same  great  desire  for  unity  was  again 
manifested.    This  was  a  large  gathering,  representative 

237 


238  Underwood  of  Korea 

of  nearly  all  the  missions  in  Korea.  Resolutions  were 
passed  to  form  a  General  Council  of  all  Protestant 
evangelical  missions  which  should  have  for  its  object 
the  promotion  of  unity  in  the  missionary  bodies  and 
especially  in  the  native  church.  Every  effort  was  to  be 
made  to  bring  about  union  in  schools,  hospitals,  pub- 
lications, Bible  work,  and  wherever  possible  for  the 
avoidance  of  friction  and  the  economy  of  time,  labor 
and  money.  Dr.  Underwood  was  elected  the  first  chair- 
man. 

The  type  of  union  they  sought,  in  schools  and  hospitals 
especially,  was  not  at  first  possible,  but,  little  by  little, 
in  spite  of  obstacles  and  the  objections  of  a  few,  much 
in  this  direction  was  accomplished,  and  gradually  year 
by  year  more  has  been  gained,  and,  happily,  the  union 
spirit  increases  continually. 

After  some  years,  this  Association  was  slightly  changed, 
becoming  the  Federal  Council  of  Missions,  a  delegated 
body,  but  with  the  same  ends  and  aims  in  view.  One  of 
the  chief  desires  of  Dr.  Underwood's  heart  was  organic 
union  on  the  mission  field:  for  this  he  longed,  prayed, 
worked  and  hoped  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  he  lived  to 
see  it  a  probability  of  the  not  distant  future. 

We  now  have  in  Korea  several  union  hospitals,  a  union 
medical  college,  a  union  college,  union  Bible  institutes 
for  men  and  women,  a  union  hymn-book,  a  union  news- 
paper. In  Seoul  three  missions  have  united  in  women's 
union  Bible  classes  and  in  union  primary  schools. 

The  year  1905  was  one  of  the  busiest  of  Dr.  Under- 
wood's very  busy  life.  Besides  his  usual  work  and  con- 
stant calls  from  the  palace  occasioned  by  the  political 
upheavals  already  referred  to,  he  was  called  upon  to 


Foregleams  of  Union  239 

carry  through  some  important  real  estate  transfers. 
Such  affairs  in  the  Orient  usually  involve  almost  innu- 
merable tiresome  formalities  and  delays.  The  caution 
and  diplomacy  needed  in  negotiating  the  simplest  land- 
purchases  are  amazing.  The  sale  of  the  property  of  the 
Central  Church  to  the  Government  was  effected  by  him. 
This  necessitated  the  purchase  of  a  new  site  for  the 
church,  entailing  long  search  for  the  land  and  endless 
palaver  with  brokers.  He  also  directed  very  advantage- 
ously the  purchase  of  property  for  the  Tract  Society 
and  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  about  the  same  time. 

His  annual  report  for  the  year  1904- 1905  shows  that, 
besides  teaching  as  usual  in  the  theological  seminary, 
attending  the  sessions  of  the  Translating  Board,  hold- 
ing a  summer  training  class  for  leaders  in  the  village  of 
Han  Kang,  near  his  river  home,  teaching  physics  and 
Old  Testament  theology  in  the  school,  translating  and 
publishing  a  book  on  physics  and  one  on  homiletics, 
and  preparing  the  Sunday  School  monthly  and  lessons 
and  the  annual  calendar,  he  had  arranged  with  Dr.  Gale 
to  assist  him  in  the  preparation  of  the  Scofield  Bible  in 
mixed  script.  Dr.  Gale's  plan  to  do  this  work  and  Dr. 
Underwood's  were  coincident,  letters  from  each  to  the 
other  crossing. 

The  mixed  script  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  a  mixture 
of  the  native  alphabetical  characters  and  Chinese  ideo- 
graphs. In  other  books,  and  more  at  length,  descrip- 
tions have  been  given  of  the  two  forms  of  writing 
used  in  Korea,  the  native  alphabet  and  the  Chinese  char- 
acters; nevertheless,  a  brief  word  as  to  their  respective 
differences  and  merits  is  almost  necessary,  if  the  reader 
is  to  understand  the  raison  d'etre  of  one  of  the  most  im- 


240  Underwood  of  Korea 

portant  of  the  works  in  which  Dr.  Underwood  was  en- 
gaged at  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  Eiinmun,  or  native  character,  is  an  exceedingly 
simple  and  well  constructed  alphabet  of  twenty-five 
letters,  which  can  be  learned  in  a  day  without  difficulty. 
It  has  met  with  great  praise  from  philologists  and  is 
a  great  boon  to  the  cornmon  people,  relieving  them  of 
the  necessity  of  learning  from  three  to  four  thousand 
characters,  as  the  Chinese  do,  before  being  able  to  read, 
and  opening  doors  to  knowledge  which  would  otherwise 
be  closed  to  the 'vast  majority.  By  its  use  every  articulate 
sound  in  the  language  can  be  represented  by  phonetic 
spelling. 

The  Chinese  character,  on  the  other  hand,  is,  as  most 
people  know,  an  ideograph,  expressing  an  idea,  object,  or 
quality.  Every  word  in  the  language  is  expressed  by  a 
diffcFent  picture  character.  It  is  the  common  writing  of 
the  educated  classes  of  China,  Japan  and  Korea.  Obvi- 
ously, in  order  to  read,  it  is  necessary  to  learn  to  recog- 
nize, at  least,  a  majority  of  the  most  commonly  used  of 
these  characters.  Moreover,  it  will  also  be  seen  that,  in 
such  a  system  of  writing,  nouns  and  simple  verbs,  etc., 
may  be  easily  expressed,  but  the  grammatical  parts  of 
speech  and  distinctions  of  tense,  mood  and  number  will  be 
more  difficult  both  to  express  and  to  learn,  and  even 
then  are  likely  to  be  indefinite. 

To  proceed,  then,  the  Korean  language  is  full  of  words 
derived  from  the  Chinese,  many  of  which  have  the  same 
sound.  If  these  words  be  written  in  the  Eiinmun,  it  is 
often  difficult  to  know,  except,  of  course,  from  the  con- 
text, which  words  are  intended.  To  illustrate,  the  words 
for  "spirit"  and  for  "new"  are  both  pronounced  "sin" 


Foregleams  of  Union  241 

by  the  Korean,  but  each  has  its  own  picture,  which 
instantly  conveys  to  the  mind  of  the  educated  the  ideas 
respectively,  of  a  spirit  and  of  newness.  The  same  man, 
idly  turning  the  pages  of  an  Eiinmun  book,  would  re- 
ceive no  mental  impression  from  seeing  the  word  "sin," 
unless  he  should  read  the  context;  while  the  printed 
Chinese  character  would  catch  the  eye  as  a  picture  would 
in  a  written  book.  Again,  Chinese  ideograph  has  so  long 
been  used  by  the  educated  that  many  of  them  scorn  to 
read  a  book  printed  in  the  Eiinmun. 

To  print  the  Bible  and  Christian  literature  in  general 
only  in  the  Chinese  character  would  be  to  close  its  pages 
forever  to  a  majority  of  the  people.  Printing  it  simply 
in  the  Korean  Eiinmun  has  diminished  the  respect  of 
the  educated  classe"  for  it,  and,  even  when  they  do 
read,  they  complain  that  it  does  not  convey  the  clear 
impression  made  by  the  Chinese.  Moreover,  with 
the  exception  of  slight  changes  made  in  recent  years, 
the  Eiinmun  is  altogether  lacking  in  divisions  between 
words,  sentences  and  paragraphs,  and  in  punctuation  of 
any  sort.  The  solution  of  the  problem  seems  to  have 
been  found  in  the  publication  of  books  in  what  is  known 
as  mixed  script.  The  use  of  the  Chinese  character  for 
the  expression  of  ideas,  of  objects  and  general  action 
is  retained,  while  the  case  and  verbal  endings,  conjunc- 
tions, prepositions,  etc.,  are  expressed  in  the  Eiinmun. 
Thus  is  produced  a  book  pleasing  to  the  scholar  and  with- 
in the  reach  of  the  man  of  even  moderate  education. 


CHAPTER  XV 
A  STRENUOUS  COUNTRY  TRIP 

IN  the  spring  of  1905,  the  completion  of  the  Seoul- 
Fusan  railroad  was  celebrated  with  games,  prize 
fights,  athletic  and  acrobatic  shows,  fireworks,  etc. 
A  Japanese  prince  visited  Seoul  and  various  functions 
were  held  in  his  honor.  Great  crowds  of  people  came 
from  the  country  and,  with  the  city  people  gathered  by 
hundreds  and  thousands  around  the  place  where  the 
affair  was  going  on.  Here  Dr.  Underwood  had  his 
Christian  Endeavorers  with  plenty  of  tracts,  taking  full 
advantage  of  the  occasion  and  the  crowd  to  sow  the  good 
seed  plentifully. 

In  January  of  1905,  he  went  north  in  the  interior  to 
hold  leaders'  and  Bible  training  classes  at  the  villages 
of  Taiton  and  Sorai,  to  assist  the  young  missionary  who 
had  undertaken  the  charge  of  his  old  province.  The 
first  tracks  to  the  north  for  the  railroad  to  We  Ju  had 
just  been  hurriedly  laid,  and  soldiers  were  being  trans- 
ported thereon,  so  Dr.  Underwood  sought  permission  for 
himself  and  family  to  go  to  Song  Do  by  that  road. 
Travel  on  those  trains  had  been  strictly  forbidden :  they 
were  really  not  very  safe  and  were  crowded  with  rather 
rough  soldiers.  But  he  usually  got  his  way.  Somebody 
very  close  to  the  top  gave  him  a  wonderful  pass,  which 
worked  like  a  fairy's  wand  everywhere  it  was  shown, 

242 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  243 

and,  whenever  any  one  looked  stern  and  forbidding  and 
said  "Impossible"  to  any  request,  he  had  only  to  show 
that  magic  name  and  the  aspect  of  things  changed  at  once. 

The  cars  were  ordinary  open  freight  cars;  the 
soldiers  sat  on  the  floor.  A  couple  of  camp  stools 
which  he  had  brought  accommodated  Dr.  Under- 
wood and  his  son,  while  his  wife  was  in  her  Korean 
pokyo,  or  native  carrying  chair,  wrapped  in  furs  and 
rugs  and  packed  in  with  hot-water  bottles  and  Japanese 
kyros.  The  family  started  very  early  on  a  sharp  winter 
morning  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  few  places  could 
have  been  colder  than  those  open  freight  cars  in  mo- 
tion. Dr.  Underwood  and  the  boy  had  rugs,  and  kyros 
for  hands,  and  each  had  a  lighted  lantern  to  place  be- 
tween his  feet,  which  helped  a  little,  but  still  it  was, 
indeed,  bitterly  cold.  The  cars  were  literally  packed  with 
soldiers,  who  pushed  and  crowded  and  stared.  Poor 
fellows,  they  were  born  in  a  warmer  clime  and  knew 
nothing  of  such  cold  as  this. 

The  trip  took  three  or  four  long  hours,  but,  going 
in  the  old  way  in  the  chair,  it  would  have  been  a  day 
and  a  half  or  two  days,  though  Dr.  Underwood  had 
walked  it  in  a  day. 

The  bridge  across  the  Injin  River  was  not  yet  fin- 
ished and  we  must  cross  in  a  boat.  There  was  no 
sheltered  place  to  wait.  Boats  were  evidently  not  many 
and  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  stand  there,  all  shiver- 
ing as  we  got  off  our  tram  de  luxe,  and  shiver  still 
more  as  we  waited  for  a  ferryman.  The  river  was  half 
frozen  over,  and  full  of  great  cakes  of  ice,  and  was  indeed 
frozen  quite  hard  in  some  places,  though  not  enough  so 
to  make  it  possible  to  cross  on  the  ice.     One  boat  was 


244  Underwood  of  Korea 

fast  in  the  ice  somewhere  up  the  river.  The  army  had 
commandeered  the  only  good  one,  and  we  were  forced 
to  wait  until  there  was  a  chance  for  us.  When  our  boat 
on  which  we  were  invited  to  risk  our  lives,  came  along,  a 
mere  sampan,  it  was  loaded  down  almost  to  the  water's 
edge  with  lumber,  army  and  railroad  equipment,  a  few 
soldiers,  a  boatman  and  an  officer.  We  three  might  go, 
but  not  the  chair  nor  chair  coolies — that  would  be  too 
much.  We  should  not  all  have  gone  in  a  boat  so  already 
overloaded,  but  we  preferred,  if  drown  we  must,  to 
drown  together.  It  really  seemed  as  though  a  sneeze  or 
cough,  even  a  breath,  would  be  enough  to  bring  the 
water  over  the  edge  and  send  us  all  to  the  bottom.  No 
one  spoke.  The  great  blocks  of  ice  had  to  be  pushed 
aside.  It  seemed  only  by  a  miracle  that  at  length  we  were 
landed  safe  on  the  other  side.  "One  more  river  to  cross" 
is  not  a  joke  to  travelers  in  Korea,  or  was  not  in  those 
days. 

Even  here  there  was  no  place  to  warm  up,  but  walking 
soon  sent  the  blood  circulating  briskly  through  our  veins, 
and  at  noon  the  sun  was  shining,  and  we  set  the  contents 
of  our  lunch-basket  on  a  big  rock  and  were  comfortable 
and  happy  once  more. 

At  this  place,  the  road  was  still  more  unfinished,  and 
we  were  grateful  to  be  allowed  to  ride  the  rest  of  the 
way  to  Song  Do  on  a  little  construction  car,  over  tem- 
porarily laid  rails,  where  grades  had  not  yet  been  made. 
But  Dr.  Underwood  somehow  made  friends  with  the 
rough  Japanese  road  coolies  who  ran  the  car,  though 
they  were  a  little  impertinent.  When  we  went  down- 
hill, we  simply  slid  off  the  edge  of  creation — tobog- 
ganing is  not  to  be  compared  with  it ;  we  held  our  breath 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  245 

and  clung  to  each  other  and  the  car,  till  we  got  to 
the  bottom  and  partly  up  the  next  hill.  Why  the  car 
did  not  jump  the  rails  and  fling  us  afar,  merciful  Provi- 
dence only  knows !  Oh,  for  a  snapshot  of  that  staid 
missionary  family  careering  through  space  after  such  an 
utterly  reckless  devil-may-care  fashion!  But  our  prog- 
ress, if  so  mild  a  word  will  do,  was  far  too  swift  for 
any  snapshot  that  ever  was  on  sea  or  land. 

I  place  this  journey  alongside  a  short  ride  I  once  took 
in  a  schenza,  and,  though  the  latter  could  not  compare 
in  dash,  speed  and  abandon  with  this,  it  had  its  com- 
pensations in  frightfulness.  One  never  knows  what  a 
schenza  donkey  will  do,  what  its  driver  will  do,  what 
the  schenza  will  do,  or,  in  fact,  what  one  will  do  oneself 
when  in  it.  However,  "All's  well  that  ends  well,"  and 
we  were  thankful  to  reach  Song  Do  safely  that  afternoon. 

We  then  proceeded  to  Hai  Ju,  and  so  on  farther 
north,  where  Dr.  Underwood  was  to  meet  his  class,  his 
last  long  itinerating  trip  into  the  dear  old  province. 

As  we  were  nearing  the  village  of  Sorai,  we  saw  a 
leopard  swiftly  running  at  right  angles  to  our  path,  not 
fifty  yards  in  front  of  us,  making  for  the  woods.  The 
guns,  alas,  were  back  with  the  packs.  Almost  before 
we  realized  what  it  was,  the  beast — "peum,"  Koreans 
call  it — was  gone.  Villagers  told  us  excitedly  that  a 
peum  had  been  seen  that  day  and  when,  later  on,  our 
young  son,  with  some  other  boys,  went  down  to  the 
beach,  we  were  told  before  their  return  that  a  peum 
had  been  seen  prowling  about  in  that  neighborhood.  Dr. 
Underwood  at  once  hurried  with  two  or  three  others  to 
make  sure  of  the  safety  of  the  children,  and  for  a  few 
days  we  kept  our  child  near  the  village. 


246  Underwood  of  Korea 

When  the  classes  were  over,  there  were  two  ferries  to 
cross  on  the  way  home.  The  first  is  called  the  Peung- 
nando  ferry  and  is  a  very  disagreeable  one,  for  the  tide 
is  very  swift,  the  river  is  quite  wide,  the  boats  crowded 
and  leaky,  and  one  is  always  a  little  uncertain  about 
getting  across — at  least,  the  writer  was.  Besides,  there 
is  so  much  of  a  rise  and  fall  of  tide  that,  if  one  does 
not  cross  when  the  river  is  high,  there  is  a  hateful, 
slimy  bank  of  soft  clay  to  be  faced,  which  can  be  mounted 
only  with  great  difficulty.  If  one  must  drink  the  last 
dregs  of  humiliation,  one  mounts  pick-a-back  astride 
the  shoulders  of  an  unwashed  boatman,  clasps  one's  arms 
around  his  neck  and  is  carried  by  him,  groaning,  strug- 
gling, his  feet  sinking  in  the  mud  to  the  knees  at  every 
step,  slowly  and  painfully,  to  dry  ground.  The  writer 
has  seen  a  great  six-foot  American  mounted  thus  on  a 
Korean  boat  coolie  not  half  his  size,  nor  a  third  his 
weight,  and  comical,  indeed,  was  the  picture  presented. 

On  this  trip,  however,  there  was  only  a  very  little  of 
the  bank  above  water,  and  the  two  chair  coolies  were  to 
step  with  me  in  my  chair  directly  from  the  boat  to  the 
shore,  but,  somehow,  they  were  not  ready  at  the  psycho- 
logical moment.  Dr.  Underwood  had  leaped  ashore  and,  as 
usual,  was  prepared  for  anything.  Just  as  the  chair  was 
pushed  nearly  off  the  boat  by  the  coolie  at  the  back 
and  as  Dr.  Underwood  grasped  the  two  front  poles,  the 
boat  slipped  back  a  little  to  the  river,  and  the  chair  and 
I  hung  on  his  hands.  Slipping  as  he  was  in  the  mud, 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  he  braced  himself  and  held 
on  for  a  moment  until  the  boat  was  pushed  back,  and 
the  coolies  could  relieve  him.  Just  why  they  were  not 
ready  and  why  no  one  held  the  boat,  I  never  knew. 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  247 

We  had,  however,  one  more  river  near  Song  Do  to 
cross.  It  had  been  very  cold  and  the  river  v^as  half 
frozen  over  when  we  reached  it:  not  enough  ice  to  cross 
on,  but  apparently  too  much  to  make  it  safe  to  take  the 
tipsy,  leaky  little  boat  across.  The  only  good  boat  was 
frozen  in  somewhere.  The  only  one  to  be  had  was  being 
Industriously  baled  before  it  started,  the  boatman  stand- 
ing in  eight  or  ten  inches  of  water,  which  seemed  to 
run  in  as  fast  as  it  was  dipped  out.  Dr.  Underwood 
was  forced  to  admit  that  it  would  be  risking  too  much 
to  attempt  to  take  his  family  across  the  river  in  that 
crazy  little  tub,  and  we  retraced  our  steps  three  miles  to 
the  inn ;  but  I  am  sure  that  had  he  been  alone  he  would 
have  tried  the  passage.  He  was  in  haste  to  get  back 
to  Seoul  for  some  appointment  and  hated  to  lose  even  an 
hour.  Our  inn  was  on  the  main  road  and  people  every 
now  and  then  passed  our  door.  Many,  Hke  ourselves, 
were  anxious  to  cross.  Dr.  Underwood's  ears  were  quick, 
the  country  people's  talk  was  as  simple  as  English  to 
him  and  he  listened  eagerly  for  news  that  the  river  had 
either  frozen  or  thawed  sufficiently  for  a  safe  passage. 
He  awoke  next  day  before  dawn,  and  the  first 
words  he  heard  were  that  the  river  had  frozen  over 
night  so  that  people,  but  not  loaded  animals,  could  cross. 
Quickly  he  had  us  all  up,  coolies  getting  my  chair  ready, 
breakfast  being  prepared.  He  certainly  managed  to 
hustle  the  East  sometimes.  We  were  soon  off  for  the 
river.  The  sight  that  met  the  reluctant  eyes  of  a  cautious 
woman  was  not  reassuring.  The  river  was  only  partly 
frozen  and  boards  had  been  laid  over  weak  places,  with 
which  a  sort  of  path  had  been  made  over  the  part  where 
the  stronger  ice  was.    Even  this  cracked  ominously  when 


248  Underwood  of  Korea 

we  stepped  on  it.  In  some  places  near  our  path,  water 
oozed  up  through  holes  and  in  many  places  there  were 
only  great,  loose  cakes  of  ice  floating  on  the  water.  The 
footing  was  not  secure  enough  to  risk  the  carrying  of  the 
writer  in  a  chair,  and  she  much  preferred  not  to  be 
drowned  in  such  a  cage,  so  we  all  walked  over  as  fast  as 
possible  lest  the  ice  we  stood  on  should  suddenly  break 
beneath  our  feet.  The  pony  was  unloaded  and  his  burden 
distributed  in  small  packages  on  men's  backs;  but,  even 
so,  the  poor  beast  went  through  the  ice  and  was  dragged 
out  with  great  difficulty  by  the  mapoos  and  coolies. 
Knowing  his  fate  might  be  our  own,  we  made  the  greater 
speed.  But,  at  length,  the  last  river  had  been  crossed 
and  we  could  make  our  way  back  to  Seoul  on  solid 
ground. 

During  1904  and  1905,  whenever  occasion  permitted, 
Dr.  Underwood  visited  the  prisons,  especially  on  Sunday 
afternoons.  There  were  at  that  time  and  for  some  years 
after  a  number  of  men  of  high  family  who  had  been  con- 
fined on  account  of  political  offenses,  who,  in  their 
loneliness  and  distress,  were  glad  to  see  an  old  friend 
and  glad  to  listen  to  the  Gospel  message.  Mr.  Bunker 
and  Dr.  Gale  did  even  more  of  this  work  than  did  Dr. 
Underwood  and  carried  it  on  for  several  years.  The 
fruit  of  the  seed  sown  there  has  been  seen  in  the  con- 
version of  a  number  of  the  higher  families  of  the 
Korean  nobility.  Testaments,  tracts  and  hymnbooks 
were  given  to  the  poor  fellows  in  jail,  greedy  for  some- 
thing to  read,  and  were  eagerly  devoured.  When  these 
men  were  released,  they  continued  to  be  the  friends  of 
the  missionaries  and,  what  is  more,  the  friends  of  Chris- 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  249 

tianity.  One  hundred  and  thirty  of  them  joined  the  church 
with  their  families. 

One  young  man,  Mr.  Ye  Seung  Man,  who  became 
converted  by  the  reading  of  a  Bible  placed  in  his 
hands  in  the  prison,  was  so  happy  and  full  of  enthusi- 
asm that  he  told  the  Gospel  story  to  his  fellow  pris- 
oners, and  the  jailers  as  well,  and  several  other  con- 
versions resulted.  Who  can  tell  where  such  a  stream 
of  influence  stops?  Does  it  ever  cease?  "Our  echoes 
roll   from  soul  to  soul  and  live   forever  and   forever." 

A  Mr.  Ye  Syung  Chai,  one  of  the  men  who  was 
confined  in  prison  at  that  time,  became  one  of  the  famous 
prison  group  that  had  so  much  influence  among  many  of 
the  higher  classes  in  Seoul.  They  studied  the  Bible  in  the 
daytime  and  would  get  together  and  discuss  it  at  night. 
He  had  a  strange  dream  that  a  messenger  from  the  great 
King  came  and  reminded  him  how  he  had  slighted  his 
opportunities  to  believe  Him  and  warned  him  not  to 
continue  his  neglect  and  commit  still  greater  sin.  At 
length,  the  Truth  dawned  upon  him,  his  heart  was 
changed,  he  was  full  of  joy,  a  twice-born  man.  When 
a  turn  came  in  Korean  politics,  he  was  released  from 
prison  and  became  secretary  of  the  cabinet.  He  also 
became  an  enthusiastic  worker  in  Dr.  Gale's  church, 
to  which  he  brought  a  number  of  his  friends.  He 
was  long  Chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee  of  the 
Seoul  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  at  one  time  excused  himself 
from  the  cabinet  to  attend  an  important  committee  meet- 
ing of  the  Association.  He  became,  later,  Religious 
Work  Director  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  has  been  in- 
strumental in  leading  literally  thousands  of  young  men 
into  the  Christian  life.    In  one  year  alone,  754  men  in  his 


250  Underwood  of  Korea 

department  expressed  a  desire  to  be  Christians  and  875 
others  were  enrolled  in  Bible  classes  under  his  super- 
vision. On  the  universal  day  of  prayer,  he  gathered  over 
1200  students  at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  teach  them  the  Word 
of  God  and  to  each  was  given  a  Gospel  of  John.  He 
also  organized  in  May,  191 1,  a  club  for  the  purpose  of 
enrolling  1000  additional  men  in  Bible  classes,  the  total 
attendance  of  which  for  the  month  was  4208  men.  This 
is  an  example  of  the  type  of  Christianity  exhibited  by 
the  leaders,  as  well  as  by  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Korean 
church  and  how  they  work.* 

Dr.  Underwood's  very  happy  relations  with  the  Court 
continued.  He  and  his  family  were  given  audiences, 
tokens  of  friendship  and  favor,  in  the  way  of  gifts,  and 
invitations  to  functions  as  though  they  were  officials 
of  rank.  Dr.  Avison  also  continued  to  be  physican  to 
the  Emperor  for  some  years. 

A  far-reaching  evangelistic  effort  inaugurated  about 
this  time  by  Dr.  Underwood  provided  for  the  division  of 
the  city  into  sections,  to  which  the  men  and  women  of 
the  Christian  Endeavor  were  sent  with  tracts  to  every 
house,  making  personal  appeals,  so  that  practically  every 
house  in  the  whole  city  was  visited. 

In  1905,  Dr.  Underwood  took  his  family  to  Sorai 
Beach,  which  he  had  long  hoped  would  become  the  sum- 
mer rest  station  for  the  missionaries.  On  his  second  long 
country  trip  in  1888,  he  had  found  this  place  and  even 
then  he  had  seen  a  vision  and  dreamed  a  dream  of  a  time 
in  the  future  when  it  should  be  the  resort,  in  trying 
summer  seasons,  for  weary  and  invalid  missionaries,  a 

♦These  facts  are  from  an  article  in  the  "Korea  Field"  by 
Mr.  Brockman,  Secretary,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  251 

refuge  from  the  steaming,  unhealthy  cities  and  the  lonely 
and  isolated  interior  stations.  Especially  he  liked  to 
bring  people  together,  and  he  believed  that  for  mission- 
aries of  all  denominations  to  gather  here  thus  socially 
would  go  a  long  way  toward  bringing  about  a  true  spirit 
of  union  and  comity ;  that  many  mission  problems  would 
be  solved  in  the  daily  surf  and  sand  meetings,  for  we 
could  see  more  clearly;  feel  more  for  one  another's  diffi- 
culties; realize  more  of  one  another's  good  and  faithful 
intent;  know  more  of  one  another's  point  of  view,  and 
put  ourselves  more  in  one  another's  place  there,  jostled 
together  in  the  close,  intimate  intercourse  of  such  a 
resort.  Such  a  place!  Hidden  away  there  on  the  west 
coast  of  Korea,  prepared  by  the  Lord  for  his  own  dear, 
weary  servants  and  waiting  for  their  time  of  need !  There 
is  perhaps  nothing  to  compare  with  it  for  beauty  and 
healthfulness  in  all  Korea.  There  is  a  cliff  some  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  feet  above  the  sea,  at  whose  foot  on  one 
side  the  surf  constantly  breaks  in  beauty  over  great 
rocks  and  a  pebbly  shore;  on  the  other  side  it  descends 
in  a  grassy  slope  to  a  beach  quite  wide  and  firm,  which 
stretches  away  from  it  at  right  angles  for  nearly  three 
miles.  There  is  a  glorious  bay,  flanked  to  right  and 
left  by  mountains  of  ever-changing  loveliness,  and,  in 
the  distance,  several  charming  islands,  sometimes  partly 
concealed  in  mist,  sometimes  lightly  caressed  by  clouds, 
always  fascinating,  enticing.  Some  four  or  five  miles  back 
from  the  coast,  lies  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  won- 
derful passes  in  all  Korea's  mountains,  tempting  those 
who  love  to  explore  the  hills,  and,  at  the  base  of  the 
cliff,  where  it  gradually  slopes  down  to  the  mainland 
near  the  port,  is  a  pretty  bit  of  woods.     The  summer 


252  Underwood  of  Korea 

rains  do  not  seem  to  come  as  frequently  or  stay  as 
long  at  this  favored  spot  as  in  other  parts  of  Korea: 
perhaps,  because  the  mountains  guarding  it  on  two  sides 
break  the  storm-clouds,  which  are  often  seen  precipitating 
their  showers  on  the  other  side.  The  air  here  is  fresh 
and  bracing,  nearly  always  ten  degrees  cooler  than  in- 
land, while  the  fresh  sea  breezes  sweep  over  it,  making 
it  seem  even  cooler  than  the  thermometer  reads.  Except 
when  land  winds  blow,  there  are  almost  no  mosquitoes. 
The  hard  sandy  beach  would  easily  bear  the  weight  of 
carriages  or  even  automobiles  and  is  an  ideal  playground 
for  children,  large  and  small.  Here,  due  to  the  com- 
bination of  mountains,  islands  and  sea,  are  daily  the  most 
marvelous  sunsets  the  writer  has  ever  beheld.  The  be- 
witching loveliness  of  the  place  charms  every  beholder, 
and  Dr.  Underwood  bespoke  it  for  his  brethren  as  soon 
as  he  saw  it.  For  some  years  he  was  unable  to  materialize 
his  vision,  but  he  hoped,  he  believed,  and  he  was  ready  to 
seize  the  opportunities  when  they  came. 

People  in  America  do  not  realize  what  it  is  to  be  in 
a  land  where  there  are  no  summer  resorts,  no  mountain 
or  seashore  places  where  there  are  hotels  and  boarding- 
houses  or  safe  camping-grounds;  but  with  us,  unless 
we  subjected  ourselves  to  the  discomforts  of  a  Buddhist 
temple  in  the  mountains  or  built  a  house  at  one  of 
the  ports  or  by  some  river,  or,  at  great  expense,  took 
a  trip  to  China  or  Japan,  there  was  no  possibility  of 
refreshing  change  of  air  and  scene,  no  matter  how  much 
it  might  be  needed.  As  the  number  of  missionaries  of 
different  churches  gradually  increased,  the  need  increased, 
and  Dr.  Underwood  made  repeated  attempts  to  induce 
the  members  of  his  mission  to  take  steps  toward  starting 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  253 

the  establishment  of  a  summer  resort  at  Sorai.  At  that 
time  it  was  not  clear  to  all  concerned  that  such  a  step 
was  necessary  or  desirable.  But  Dr.  Underwood,  con- 
vinced that  this  was  the  best  location  for  such  a  resort 
and  that  it  would  eventually  prove  to  be  of  inestimable 
value  to  all  who  should  avail  themselves  of  it,  proceeded 
to  execute  the  plan. 

Just  as  soon  as  he  had  funds  to  spare.  Dr.  Underwood 
bought  most  of  the  point,  and  afterward,  little  by  little, 
added  one  piece  of  land  to  another  until  he  had  a  gen- 
erous domain.  He  had  wise  business  instincts,  saw 
well  to  his  deeds,  first,  with  the  Korean  Government 
and,  later,  the  Japanese,  and  was  not  a  moment  too 
soon,  for,  had  he  waited  another  six  months,  the  whole 
property  would  have  passed  out  of  his  or  any  other  mis- 
sionary's power  to  purchase.  He  made  roads;  planted 
trees  that  would  grow  on  the  sand  dunes ;  planned  for 
a  jetty;  and  was  still  buying  more  land,  planting  more 
trees  and  arranging  for  piping  spring  water  some  two 
miles  from  Sorai  village  the  very  year  of  his  death. 

He  took  his  family  to  the  point  to  spend  the  summer, 
for  the  first  time,  in  1905.  After  a  very  rough  voyage, 
we  at  length  found  ourselves  at  the  desired  haven,  and 
were  ready  to  endure  it  all  again  for  the  privilege  of 
Hving  in  such  a  paradise  for  a  few  weeks  in  summer. 
When  we  arrived  it  was  raining  lightly,  a  soft  gray  mist 
hung  over  mountain  and  sea,  cool  breezes  fanned  our 
brows  for  the  first  time  in  several  weeks ;  the  surf  gently 
lapped  the  rocks  beneath  us  with  a  soothing  murmur; 
the  salt  air  brought  new  Hfe  to  our  weary  frames,  and  we 
were  thankful. 

Two  young  men  of  our  own  mission  were  our  only 


254  Underwood  of  Korea 

companions  at  the  beach  that  year.  For  ourselves,  we 
could  ha;/e  been  quite  happy  alone,  but,  as  we  reveled 
in  the  surf  bathing,  or  the  glorious  beach,  or  the  rocks 
full  of  sea  treasures  at  low  tide,  or  the  views,  or  the 
sunset,  or  the  matchless,  invigorating  air,  we  longed  for 
our  co-workers  and  their  pale  wives  and  little,  hollow- 
eyed,  languid  children  to  share  it  with  us. 

Dr.  Underwood  divided  the  point  into  as  many  lots  of 
about  80'  X  80'  as  was  possible  and  offered  them  to 
the  missionaries  at  prices  so  low  compared  with  those 
of  Eastern  resorts  in  China  or  Japan  as  to  be  merely 
nominal  and  within  the  reach  of  the  most  impecunious. 
He  never  planned  to  profit  financially  by  this  land  deal 
but,  on  the  contrary,  had  not  up  to  his  death  reim- 
bursed himself  for  expenditures  in  lands,  lawyers,  land 
agents,  titles,  fees  and  improvements.  Such  small  sums 
as  came  in  little  by  little  for  lots  were  at  once  used 
in  purchasing  more  land,  making  more  improvements, 
putting  up  a  few  cottages.  However,  not  until  191 3 
or  1914  did  any  considerable  number  of  mission- 
aries begin  to  know  Sorai  Beach  and  to  appre- 
ciate what  it  would  mean  for  them  and  their  fam- 
ilies, as  individuals  and  as  missionaries,  what  a  boon  it 
might  be  in  a  number  of  ways,  socially,  physically  and 
spiritually.  We  are  thankful,  though,  that  he  had  the 
delight  of  seeing  so  many  good  friends  gaining  new  vigor, 
new  joy  in  service,  new  love  for  the  Master  and  for  one 
another  every  year  as  a  result  of  his  foresight  and  per- 
sistence. That  he  did  it  in  the  face  of  opposition  and 
even  of  suspicion  does  not  now  matter  so  much.  He 
did  it  for  the  good  of  the  cause  and  for  the  love  of  the 
brotherhood,  and  though  this  plan  had  been  regarded 


A  Strenuous  Country  Trip  255 

as  one  of  the  visions  of  the  visionary,  one  of  the  too 
many  "irons  in  the  fire,"  its  success  demonstrated  the 
real  character  and  aims  of  the  man.  Even  while  these 
chapters  were  being  written,  a  letter  from  a  friend  in 
Korea  arrived  with  a  word  of  testimony  to  Sorai  and  its 
founder :  "Sorai  will  always  be  one  beautiful  monument  in 
memory  of  Dr.  Underwood.  I  have  so  many  cheery  pic- 
tures of  him  as  he  was  during  my  first  summer  there: 
his  six  o'clock  morning  rides,  his  brisk  walks  past  my 
window,  greeting  us  always  with  a  smile  and  a  happy 
word,  and  his  genial  hospitality  when  we  visited  his 
home.  As  long  as  I  live.  Dr.  Underwood  will  always 
be  remembered  with  love  and  gratitude."  Another 
writes:  "Only  during  the  last  few  years,  however,  has 
the  missionary  community  realized  what  a  blessing  Dr.' 
Underwood  had  provided  for  them.  We  did  not  visit 
the  beach  till  a  couple  of  years  ago.  Then  like  all  the 
rest  who  go  we  fell  in  love  with  everything  and  de- 
cided to  put  up  a  small  cottage.  We  did  this  for  less 
than  $150,  and  I  think  we  got  almost  that  much  worth 
of  new  health  and  strength  this  summer." 

As  I  mentioned  above,  Sorai  Beach  is  reached  by  a 
day's  trip  on  a  small  steamer,  and  when  the  weather  is 
unpropitious  those  who  are  not  good  travelers  by  sea 
find  the  voyage  unpleasant.  For  this  reason  some  of  the 
missionaries  were  led  to  seek  another  seashore  resort 
that  could  be  reached  by  train.  Consequently  Korea  has 
now  two  such  summering-places,  and  these  have  proved 
to  be  none  too  many,  as  a  considerable  number  of  mis- 
sionaries and  others  living  in  China  and  Japan  have 
found  the  air  of  Korea  invigorating  and  are  coming  to 
take  advantage  of  it.    However,  a  fine  road  is  now  being 


^56  Underwood  of  Korea 

made  from  the  railway  to  Sorai  and  will  no  doubt  be 
completed  ere  this  is  published,  so  that  beautiful  Sorai 
will  soon  be  easily  reached. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  let  us  look  a  little  at  some 
mission  statistics  and  see  what  God  had  been  doing  in 
Korea  up  to  now.  Dr.  Underwood,  quoting  missionary 
reports  of  June,  1907,  for  the  previous  year,  notes  that 
there  were  in  1906  three  thousand  six  hundred  and 
twenty-one  additions  on  confession  of  faith,  making  a 
total  of  fifteen  thousand  and  seventy-nine  communicants, 
with  sixteen  thousand  catechumens,  and  with  a  grand  total, 
including  adherents,  of  sixty  thousand,  divided  among 
six  hundred  and  nineteen  self-supporting  churches ;  with 
three  hundred  and  forty-four  schools,  three  hundred  and 
thirty-four  of  which  were  entirely  self-supporting,  with 
an  enrollment  of  seven  thousand,  five  hundred  and  four 
students.  The  evangelistic  work  is  carried  on  largely 
by  natives.  Forty  thousand,  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  dollars  and  eighty-seven  cents  were  given  during  the 
year,  with  the  wage  rate  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents 
a  day. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
REST  IN  EUROPE 

IN  the  winter  of  1905  and  1906,  Dr.  Underwood  took 
a  severe  cold,  which  he  was  unable  to  shake  off  as 
he  usually  did  his  rare  attacks  of  this  sort,  and  from 
this  there  developed  a  severe  laryngitis.  Remedies  seemed 
absolutely  without  effect.  The  cough  was  much  worse 
when  he  was  in  a  reclining  position,  so  that  he  got 
almost  no  rest,  but  would  walk  the  floor  most  of  the 
night.  From  the  combination  of  cough,  sleepless  nights 
and  depressing  drugs,  he  grew  exceedingly  weak  and 
looked  but  a  shadow  of  his  former  self.  But,  in  spite 
of  evident  exhaustion,  he  kept  on  with  his  work  as 
far  as  possible.  He  could  not,  of  course,  make  ad- 
dresses or  preach,  but  he  kept  on  with  Bible  translation 
and  all  his  other  literary  work,  serving  on  committees 
and  supervising  the  country  churches.  He  made  a  visit 
to  Fusan  of  a  few  weeks'  duration,  hoping  that  the 
mild  climate  of  that  southern  port  might  bring  about  a 
cure.  He  did  gain  a  limited  amount  of  relief  while 
there,  but,  on  his  return  to  Seoul,  the  cough  came  back 
worse  than  ever,  and  it  began  to  look  as  though  his 
system  could  not  long  stand  the  strain;  so  a  committee 
of  three  or  four  mission  doctors  decided  that  he  must 
take  a  vacation  and  go  to  Switzerland,  where  glacier 
air  and  entire  rest  might  invigorate  and  heal. 

257 


258  Underwood  of  Korea  • 

It  was  decided  that  the  somewhat  recently  constructed 
road  across  Siberia  would  be  quickest  and  best,  and  all 
arrangements,  so  far  as  possible,  were  made  to  take  that 
route;  but,  on  landing  at  Nagasaki,  Japan,  he  learned, 
to  his  consternation,  that  the  company  would  not  sell 
tickets  for  families  at  that  time,  as  the  terribly  disturbed 
social  and  political  conditions  in  Russia  made  that  route 
unsafe.  There  were  tales  of  riots,  mobs  and  attacks 
on  trains.  In  short,  it  was  impossible.  But  it  was 
already  July,  the  next  steamer  out  was  due  in  a  day  or 
two  and  would  be  the  last  one  for  the  summer.  Travel 
in  equatorial  seas  at  that  season  would  be  not  only  un- 
comfortable but  probably  unsafe,  and  our  trunks  had 
been  filled  with  warm  apparel  for  Siberian  weather  and 
we  had  nothing  with  us  for  a  southern  trip.  However, 
the  Chinese  tailors  are  quick  and  Japanese  shops  fur- 
nished sufficient  summer  clothing  for  the  women  of  the 
party.  And  so  we  got  ready  in  time.  Nevertheless,  the 
heat  was  very  debilitating,  and  ere  the  steamer  reached 
the  Suez  Canal  Dr.  Underwood's  illness  became  more 
serious.  Fortunately,  there  was  an  American  doctor  on 
board  whose  treatment  helped  him.  This,  together  with 
rest  and  the  sea  air,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  enabled  him 
to  throw  off  the  fever,  so  that  when  the  first  quarantine 
inspector  came  on  board,  he  was  able  to  dress  and  appear 
amongst  the  other  passengers.  Our  dread  had  been  that 
those  officials  might  regard  his  illness  as  contagious  and 
order  him  to  go  ashore  at  a  quarantine  station,  in  which 
case  we  feared  he  might  die.  His  condition  was  better 
than  it  had  been,  but  vv-e  knew  that  he  was  still  a  very 
sick  man. 

At  Naples,  that  most  beautiful  of  Italian  ports,  we  went 


Rest  in  Europe  259 

ashore  for  only  a  few  hours,  and  then  proceeded  to 
Genoa,  where  we  landed  and  traveled  by  rail  to  Lucerne. 
There  we  met  Dr.  Underwood's  brother  John  and  his 
family.  After  a  short  stay  in  Lucerne,  the  party  took 
one  of  the  famous  cog  railroads  to  Wengen,  a  lovely 
mountain  resort  under  the  brow  of  the  Jungfrau,  only 
a  short  distance  from  that  matchless  little  town  of  Inter- 
laken.  There  we  spent  the  summer,  and  there  Dr.  Un- 
derwood seemed  to  gain  a  little  strength  and  to  lose  his 
cough  to  some  extent. 

In  September,  after  his  brother  had  returned  to 
America,  we  crossed  the  pass  from  Meiringen  to  the 
little  inn  at  the  Rhone  Glacier,  where  we  spent  the 
night,  descending  next  day  to  the  Rhone  Valley  and  to 
Lausanne.  The  beautiful  Rhone  Glacier  was  seen  in  its 
most  alluring  aspect,  for  the  moon  was  late  that  night, 
and,  as  we  walked  down  the  valley  to  get  a  view  of 
the  sublime  ice  cascade,  the  whole  scene  was  dark  and 
gloomy,  steeped  in  the  sombre  shades  of  night;  sinister 
shadows  seemed  to  threaten  from  every  clump  of  trees, 
from  under  the  brow  of  every  beetling  rock;  but,  sud- 
denly, glittering  in  glorious  blue  and  silver  light  and 
crested  with  its  austere  snows,  the  glacier  shone  forth 
upon  us  like  an  emblem  of  the  final  triumph  of  the  pure 
and  the  holy  over  the  powers  of  darkness.  The  moon, 
too  far  behind  the  mountains  to  shine  as  yet  in  the 
valley,  was  pouring  its  light  upon  the  glacier,  which 
caught  and  reflected  it  in  the  dark.  So  may  the  soul 
that  lives  on  the  heights  with  God  reflect  His  glory  in 
the  depths  of  a  sad,  dark  world ! 

The  descent  over  those  great  passes  to  the  valleys  be- 
low in  one  of  the  regular  diligences  is  an  experience  not 


260  Underwood  of  Korea 

to  be  forgotten  by  the  timid.  Down  the  steep  roads  the 
vehicle  dashes;  madly  it  swings  around  the  frequent 
turns  as  though  bent  on  rushing  to  destruction,  as  it 
certainly  would  were  any  part  of  the  harness  to  give 
way.  But  one  does  not  hear  of  any  such  accidents 
though  travelers  by  thousands  are  making  those  trips 
every  day. 

Dr.  Underwood's  ultimate  destination  for  the  winter 
was  southern  France,  but,  as  it  was  still  too  warm  in 
September  to  go  there,  we  stopped  for  a  time  at  Lausanne 
to  await  the  coming  of  cooler  weather.  There  again  he 
seemed  to  grow  worse.  Rheumatism  in  feet  and  hands 
crippled  him.,  his  cough  grew  worse,  and,  in  fact,  his 
whole  system  seemed  to  be  suffering  from  some  violent 
poison.  Although  such  a  sufferer,  it  was  amazing  to  see 
his  wonderful  patience  and  cheerfulness,  his  happy  dispo- 
sition, and  unfailing  faith  and  hope  rising  superior  to  it 
all.  Referring  to  his  many  ailments,  he  would  laughingly 
say  that  he  was  like  the  wonderful  one-horse  shay  that 
ran  a  hundred  years  to  a  day  and  then  went  to  pieces 
all  at  once. 

After  we  reached  Cannes,  in  October,  we  found  a  dis- 
tinguished English  doctor,  whose  treatment  brought 
relief,  and  he  gradually  threw  off  the  sickness  and  re- 
gained a  fair  amount  of  health.  With  this  doctor,  he 
had  an  amusing  experience.  He  came  at  our  call,  but, 
when  he  learned  that  Dr.  Underwood  was  a  minister  and 
missionary,  informed  him  that  he  could  not  come  again. 
He  told  him  that  it  was  contrary  to  medical  etiquette 
to  charge  the  clergy  for  services,  but  that  he  could  not 
afford  to  take  care  of  him  free  of  charge,  so  he  must 
seek  another  physician.    Dr.  Underwood  protested  that  he 


Dr.  Underwood  in  Switzerland  in  1907 


Rest  in  Europe  261 

could  quite  well  afford  to  pay  for  treatment  and,  in  any 
case,  preferred  to  do  so,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  be 
treated  as  a  pauper,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  If  he  could 
go  to  his  office,  well  and  good,  but,  to  take  the  time  to 
visit  the  invalid,  he  could  not  afford  and,  bound  by  the 
rules  of  his  Order,  he  could  not  charge.  It  struck 
us  as  both  ridiculous  and  unkind.  A  messenger  was  sent 
once  or  twice  for  medicine,  then  a  check  was  sent  by  mail, 
which  was  promptly  returned.  So  we  reluctantly  sought 
another  doctor,  who  was  more  amenable  to  reason,  and 
sent  the  first  one  a  present  at  Christmas.  Aided  by  the 
beautiful  climate  of  southern  France  and  the  perfect  rest 
and  quiet  there  possible,  he  gradually  threw  off  the  illness 
which  had  crippled  him. 

As  soon  as  we  were  settled  in  our  apartment,  he  at 
once  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  pastor  of  one 
of  the  English  churches  established  like  oases  all  over 
Europe  for  the  comfort  and  refreshment  of  strangers. 
There  was  quite  a  large  congregation  of  English  and 
Scotch  people,  mainly  the  latter,  who,  like  ourselves, 
were  to  be  in  Cannes  only  for  the  winter,  and  among  them 
we  found  a  number  of  good  Christian  friends  who 
called  upon  us  and  invited  us  to  their  apartments.  We 
were  glad  to  have  them  at  hand  and  so  to  feel  no  longer 
entirely  alone.  These  dear  people  were  all  extremely  kind 
and  we  went  here  and  there  and  drank  much  tea,  and,  in 
return,  also  entertained  in  our  pretty  little  apartment, — 
an  especial  pleasure  to  Dr.  Underwood's  English,  tea- 
loving,  social  heart.  Friends  he  must  have ;  tea  he  must 
have ;  and  the  combination  spelled  comfort  to  him. 

Southern  France  is  the  chosen  play-ground,  sanitarium, 
hospital  and  rest-cure  of  all  English  and  Scotch,  good 


262  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  bad,  who  have  money  enough  to  go  there.  And  the 
amount  of  money  needed  is  very  small.  Apartments  can 
be  had  there  from  "two  for  a  cent"  up,  and  all  sorts 
of  devices  for  cooking,  especially  for  making  tea  in  one's 
own  rooms,  are  to  be  seen  in  many  shops.  The  markets 
are  ideal  for  the  purpose.  Delicious  milk  and  rolls  are 
brought  to  one's  door.  The  little  kitchens  are  models 
of  convenience,  with  the  most  perfect  cooking  utensils 
in  the  world,  gas,  charcoal  and  coal  stoves,  and  the  most 
fascinating  porcelain  jars  for  holding  the  various  things 
necessary  for  seasoning,  for  coffee,  tea,  sugar,  and  the 
like,  ever  dreamed  of.  Any  woman,  even  a  suffragette, 
would  be  in  love  with  housekeeping  after  one  peep  into 
such  a  kitchen.  The  writer  would  advise  people  who 
need  a  long,  delightful  rest  at  a  low  price  to  seek  the 
shores  of  the  Riviera,  where  cheap  and  luxurious  house- 
keeping have  become  both  a  science  and  an  art  brought 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 

Dr.  Underwood  steadily  improved,  and  in  April,  when 
he  was  asked  to  go  to  Paris,  his  physician  consented.  The 
person  in  charge  of  the  Underwood  Typewriter  Co.'s 
offices  in  Paris  was  obliged  to  be  away  in  America  for 
a  month  and  Dr.  Underwood  undertook  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  business  and  act  as  general  agent  and 
superintendent  during  that  time.  He  had  been  brush- 
ing up  his  French  all  winter,  from  the  time  he  be- 
came able  to  study,  so  he  entered  on  his  duties  not 
only  with  the  keen  zest  of  a  man  born  with  business 
instincts,  but  with  much  more  efficiency  than  any  one 
in  the  office  had  thought  possible.  It  was  no  case  of 
**Cat's  away,  the  mice  will  play"  in  that  business.  He 
was  promptly  at  his  desk  before  any  one  else  but  the 


Rest  in  Europe  263 

janitor  every  morning,  and  no  one  was  late  or  derelict 
in  any  way  without  his  knowing  it.  The  traveling  sales- 
men soon  learned  they  had  a  judicious,  wise,  far-seeing 
friend  and  adviser,  as  well  as  a  supervisor,  and  the  whole 
establishment  ran  as  on  oiled  wheels :  everywhere  there 
was  the  strictest  order,  and  everywhere  there  was  mutual 
good  feeling. 

He  succeeded  in  securing  for  the  Underwood  Type- 
writer Company  a  very  large  order  from  the  French 
Government,  which  had  been  nearly  lost  through  a  trick 
of  the  trusts  in  getting  the  invitation  to  this  company 
to  put  in  an  estimate  withheld.  Only  his  keen,  quick 
observation  during  a  conversation  with  an  outsider  led 
him  to  discover  that  this  offer  was  open  and  then,  against 
the  advice  of  all  in  the  office,  he  put  his  bid  high.  He 
would  be  sure  to  lose,  they  all  said.  But  he  knew  men 
and  knew  his  machine,  and  to  his  keen  dehght  secured 
the  order. 

When  the  agent  returned  from  America  in  the  summer 
we  returned  to  Switzerland,  where  we  remained  close  to 
Morterach  Glacier,  with  his  brother  and  family,  Pon- 
tresina,  not  far  from  St.  Moritz,  was  our  choice. 
Thence  we  drove  by  diligence  over  some  of  the  love- 
liest passes  in  Switzerland,  feasting  our  eyes  on  scenery 
which  is  at  once  the  most  wonderful  and  most  beauti- 
ful in  the  world.  Other  places  may  be  more  won- 
derful, but  nowhere  else  are  such  wonder  and  beauty 
combined.  Here  Dr.  Underwood  continued  to  gain 
strength,  his  health  improved,  and  he  felt  ready  to  go 
back  to  America  to  work  for  Korea.  Schools,  hospitals, 
Bible  institutes,  missionaries  and  homes  were  greatly 
needed,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  still  unsaved  millions^ 


264  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  for  the  sake  of  the  shepherding  and  training  of  the 
rapidly  growing  native  church.  There  had  been  a  great 
revival  among  the  believers,  an  amazing  awakening  to 
the  awful  sinfulness  of  sin,  and  all  the  native  church,  now 
on  fire  with  new  zeal,  was  ready  to  go  on  to  far  greater 
conquests  for  Christ  than  before,  but  they  needed  teach- 
ers, guides  and  helpers,  and,  to  obtain  them,  the  church 
at  home  must  be  shown  the  need. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  KOREAN  PROPAGANDA  IN  AMERICA 

DR.  UNDERWOOD  arrived  in  America  from 
Europe  in  the  early  part  of  1907  and  at  once 
began  presenting  the  needs  and  wonderful  op- 
portunity in  Korea,  to  influential  friends  and  members  of 
the  Board.  A  conversation  with  Dr.  McAfee  of  Brook- 
lyn so  impressed  the  latter  that  he  brought  the  matter 
before  the  Board,  saying,  ^'Brethren,  what  are  we  going 
to  do  about  this?"  As  a  result,  the  Korea  committee 
and  the  Executive  Council  held  a  conference  October 
29th,  with  Dr.  Underwood,  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  R.  H. 
Sidebotham,  Rev.  H.  M.  Bruen,  Rev.  Ernest  F.  Hall 
and  Dr.  A.  M.  Sharrocks,  who  were  in  America  on 
furlough.  I  quote  from  the  report  of  Dr.  Alexander 
on  the  action  taken  November  4th,  1907:  "We  have 
heard  with  great  interest  details  of  the  opportunity  and 
need,  and  there  have  been  emphasized  to  us  the  peculiar 
ripeness  of  the  field,  the  peculiar  favorable  attitude  of 
the  Koreans  to  our  missionaries,  the  peculiar  responsi- 
bility of  our  church  in  a  land  where  our  work  so  pre- 
dominates, and  there  appears  need  for  immediate  and 
large  reinforcement  and  equipment  of  the  work. 

**The  missionaries  in  the  conference  and  the  official 
estimates  of  the  mission  agree,  that  there  is  imperative 
need  for  new  missionary  residences;  they  also  agree  on 

£65 


^66  Underwood  of  Korea 

second  emphasis  for  educational  equipment;  also  that 
twenty  new  missionaries  are  needed  to  man  the  educa- 
tional work  and  direct  the  rapidly  developing  evangelis- 
tic work,  the  resultant  demand  being  about  forty  thou- 
sand dollars  annually  for  these  new  workers  and  new 
residences  for  them  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand  dol- 
lars each,  or  sixty  thousand  dollars  for  this  purpose. 
The  needs  were  estimated  at  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
for  missionaries  now  on  the  field,  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  present  schools  and  new  ones,  twenty  new  mission- 
ary families  and  twenty  residences  for  new  mission- 
aries." 

The  committee  proposed  to  the  Board  a  special 
propaganda  in  1908  to  enlighten  the  church  and  to  secure 
workers  and  money,  with  the  understanding  that  no 
funds  should  be  diverted  by  this  appeal  that  could 
have  been  otherwise  secured  for  the  present  work  in 
Korea  and  in  other  missions,  for  which  the  contributions 
of  the  church  were  now  inadequate,  and  that  considera- 
tion should  be  given  to  the  thought  that  the  maintenance 
of  the  Board's  obligations  already  assured  called  for  a 
twenty  per  cent,  advance  in  the  receipts  for  last  year, 
and  that  the  special  funds  given  should  be  administered 
according  to  the  understood  rules  of  the  Board.  The 
committee  recommended  that  the  men  then  on  furlough, 
mentioned  above,  be  requested  and  authorized  to  raise 
this  fund  with  the  understanding  that  the  sums  obtained 
for  current  work  should  be  in  addition  to  the  regular 
appropriations  of  the  Board.  The  treasurer  of  the  Board 
was  authorized  to  pay  their  traveling  and  printing  ex- 
penses out  of  the  sums  to  be  raised.  This  report  was 
unanimously  adopted.     The  fact  that  at  the  time  this 


The^Korean  Propaganda  in  America     267 

resolution  was  passed  by  the  Board,  America  was  in  the 
throes  of  one  of  the  worst  financial  panics  it  has  ever 
known  shows  the  sublime  faith  on  the  part  of  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  deep  impressions  on  the  mind  of  the 
Board  made  by  their  representation  of  the  state  of  affairs 
in  Korea. 

Our  Board  members  were  considerably  influenced  by 
the  fact  that  about  the  same  time  they  received  an  appeal 
from  the  Mission  in  Korea  which  was  practically  identical 
in  its  requests  with  that  which  the  furloughed  mission- 
aries had  made,  neither  party  knowing  what  the  other 
was  doing.  In  giving  permission  for  this  campaign  they 
certainly  gave  a  fine  witness  to  their  faith  in  God  and 
the  Church. 

The  provisions  made  by  the  Board  for  safeguarding 
the  work  it  was  already  responsible  for  and  the  restric- 
tions laid  by  it  upon  those  who  were  to  carry  on  the 
campaign,  as  to  where  they  might  speak  and  to  whom 
they  might  appeal,  together  with  their  knowledge  of  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  business  world,  would  have  been 
very  discouraging  to  any  one  not  convinced  in  his  own 
mind  that  he  was  obeying  the  call  of  God  and  relying 
upon  One  to  Whom  the  impossible  has  no  existence. 
Some  of  the  men  mentioned  above  returned  to  Korea 
while  the  campaign  was  still  unfinished,  but  Dr.  Avison 
and  Mr.  Hulbert  took  their  places.  Dr.  Underwood  was 
made  chairman  of  the  committee  and  his  method  of  pro- 
cedure was  business-like  and  effective.  Hundreds  of  let- 
ters were  sent  to  the  pastors  of  Presbyterian  churches 
in  the  larger  cities,  explaining  the  origin  and  purpose 
of  the  campaign  and  asking  to  have  arrangements  made 
for  the  visiting  missionaries  to  ocupy  their  pulpits  on 


268  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  Sunday  set  aside  for  that  city,  and  usually  one  man 
went  in  advance  of  the  rest  to  make  these  arrangements 
definite  and  also  to  plan  for  other  meetings  during  the 
days  and  evenings  of  the  week  following.  Letters  were 
also  sent  to  all  the  Presbyterian  weeklies  in  the  country, 
asking  for  space  for  articles  on  Korea.  Leaflets  entitled 
"Opportunities  for  Investment  in  Korea"  were  published 
by  thousands.  These  gave  a  brief  statement  of  the 
growth  of  the  Mission  and  told  the  needs  of  Korea 
concisely.  They  were  distributed  by  mail  and  at  meet- 
ings, each  being  accompanied  by  a  subscription  slip.  One 
such  leaflet,  prepared  by  Dr.  Underwood,  called  "Korea's 
Crisis  Hour,"  in  a  few  pages  touchingly  and  powerfully 
told  the  story  of  the  native  church  from  the  beginning. 

When  about  to  visit  a  city  they  not  only  made  ar- 
rangements in  advance  for  occupying  pulpits  but  several 
days  before,  notices  about  Korea  in  its  political,  social, 
economic,  commercial  and  religious  aspects,  appeared 
in  the  daily  papers.  Arrangements  were  made  wherever 
possible  to  follow  up  the  Sunday  meetings  with  men's 
dinners  and  suppers,  addresses  at  commercial  and 
bankers'  associations  and,  of  course,  at  Universities, 
Theological  Seminaries,  Women's  Colleges,  Medical 
Schools,  clubs  and  parlor  meetings  of  influential  people. 
Dr.  Underwood  and  other  members  of  the  committee 
sometimes  made  as  many  as  eight  addresses  in  a  day, 
and  prayer  was  not  forgotten.  In  the  mornings 
when  not  actually  on  the  road,  the  committee  met  to- 
gether and  had  an  hour  of  united  earnest  prayer  as 
well  as  consultation  about  the  work  of  the  day.  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Chicago,  Buffalo,  Cleveland, 
Milwaukee,  St.  Louis,  Indianapolis,  Kansas  City,  Min- 


The  Korean  Propaganda  in  America     269 

neapolis,  St.  Paul  and  Pittsburg  were  visited,  and  in 
addition  dozens  of  smaller  cities  like  Albany,  Rochester 
and  Syracuse.  At  first  the  returns  were  rather  small  and 
the  outlook  was  rather  discouraging,  but  in  Chicago 
Dr.  Underwood  made  it  a  special  subject  of  prayer  that 
God  would  lead  some  good  Christian  to  give  a  large  sum 
as  an  encouragement  and  a  token  that  His  blessing  was 
to  follow  the  work.  Almost  at  once  came  a  generous  gift 
of  ten  thousand  dollars  from  one  man.  Then  men  and 
women  began  to  offer  themselves  and  often  the  church 
to  which  they  belonged  would  guarantee  their  support, 
but  even  so,  the  cause  seemed  to  progress  too  slowly.  At 
Cincinnati  Dr.  Underwood  fell  ill  with  grip  and  should 
have  remained  in  bed,  but  although  he  did  yield  to  the 
pressure  of  his  colleagues  and  stay  in  the  house  for  a 
couple  of  days,  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  put  off 
his  appointments  longer  than  this. 

The  way  in  which  people  were  often  impressed  is  illus- 
trated by  the  case  of  one  man  of  no  very  large  income 
who  first  of  all  hesitatingly  subscribed  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, a  day  later  came  saying  that  he  felt  he  must  make 
it  five  hundred  dollars,  and  before  another  twenty-four 
four  hours  had  passed  again  returned,  saying  that  though 
he  hardly  knew  where  it  was  to  come  from,  he  felt  com- 
pelled to  give  one  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1907  and  1908,  Dr.  Under- 
wood had  prepared  his  book,  "The  Call  of  Korea."  In 
the  summer  of  1908,  at  New  York  University,  he  de- 
livered the  Deems  Foundation  Lectures,  on  The  Reli- 
gions of  Asia.  The  amount  of  research  accomplished 
and  the  way  in  which  he  worked  out  these  thoughtful 
and  philosophic  lectures  was  amazing  even  to  some  of 


270  Underwood  of  Korea 

us  who  thought  we  had  known  his  capacity  for  accom- 
plishing a  phenomenal  amount  of  work  in  the  briefest 
possible  time.  These  lectures  deal  with  Taoism,  Shin- 
toism,  Shamanism,  Confucianism  and  Buddhism  as 
they  have  been  and  are  held  in  China,  Japan  and  Korea, 
in  order  to  ascertain  what  conception  of  God  the  natives 
of  those  countries  have,  and  to  compare  those  Eastern  re- 
ligions with  Christianity.  They  show  that  all  the  evidence 
we  have  goes  to  prove  that  the  earliest  religion  of  all  these 
people  was  a  Monotheism,  and  that  the  universal  tend- 
ency of  all  peoples  in  religion  which  lacks  divine  revela- 
tion and  assistance  is  downward  and  not  upward.  They 
show,  too,  the  great  gulf  between  the  best  of  these  re- 
ligions, and  heaven-sent  truth,  and  lastly  the  points  of 
contact  between  them  and  Christianity.  The  lecturer  has 
been  criticised  for  making  too  much  use  of  the  work 
of  other  students  of  Japan  and  China,  such  as  Aston, 
Legge  and  Giles,  but  those  who  live  in  the  Orient  know 
that  in  a  lifetime  one  could  hardly  comprehend  more 
than  the  work  of  one  of  these  men.  Dr.  Underwood's 
statements  are  the  more  reliable  because  they  rest  not 
only  on  his  own  very  careful  study  and  observation,  but 
on  the  results  of  the  wide  research  and  brilliant  scholar- 
ship of  the  greatest  students  of  Oriental  literature.  While 
in  America  at  this  time  he  also  delivered  the  Stone 
Foundation  Missionary  lectures  at  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary. 

During  the  early  winter  of  1909  he  decided  to  carry 
the  campaign  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Dr.  Halsey,  Secretary 
of  the  Board,  was  going  to  the  Pacific  coast  to  speak 
on  missions  in  general  and  Dr.  Underwood  was  asked 
to  go  with  him,  not  to  make  any  special  appeal  for  Korea, 


The  Korean  Propaganda  in  America     271 

although  he  might  tell  Korea's  story.  Dr.  Halsey 
later  told  the  writer  he  never  saw  a  man  so  full  of  his 
theme  or  with  such  wonderful  skill  in  presenting  it,  and 
remarked  that  though  he  had  heard  Dr.  Underwood 
speak  many  times  he  had  never  known  him  to  repeat  him- 
self on  any  of  those  occasions.  Arrived  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  he  began  at  Los  Angeles  and  slowly  proceeded 
north.  During  the  week  before  he  was  to  speak  at 
Pasadena  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  hospital  with  an 
abscess  due  to  an  infected  tooth,  and  it  looked  as  though 
it  would  be  necessary  to  perform  an  operation,  which 
would  prevent  his  speaking  in  the  large  church  where  he 
was  scheduled  to  preach  the  following  Sunday.  He, 
however,  insisted  that  he  could  preach,  and  would  con- 
sent to  no  measure  being  taken  that  would  prevent  him 
filling  his  engagement.  He  persuaded  the  doctor  to  allow 
him  to  go  out  in  a  closed  automobile  to  speak  in  the 
morning  on  condition  that  he  left  directly  after  the 
service,  waiting  to  talk  with  no  one. 

In  another  of  the  coast  cities,  upon  his  requesting 
permission  to  speak  before  a  large  Presbyterian  meet- 
ing of  the  Women's  Missionary  Society,  a  very  wealthy 
and  influential  lady  who  dominated  the  whole  church 
and  community  wrote  refusing  his  request,  as,  on  account 
of  the  panic  and  financial  crisis,  they  were  not  prepared 
to  give  to  Korea.  He  replied  that  he  only  wanted  the 
chance  to  tell  Korea's  story  and  would  ask  for  nothing 
whatever,  so  he  was  allowed  to  speak,  with  the  result 
that  the  lady  herself  subscribed  one  thousand  dollars  to 
the  Korea  fund,  and  there  were  equally  liberal  unsolicited 
gifts  from  others  in  that  place.  San  Francisco,  Oak- 
land, Berkeley,  and  other  places,  easily  visited  from  San 


272  Underwood  of  Korea 

Francisco,  received  much  attention.  We  rarely  reached 
our  beds  before  twelve  at  night,  going  in  ferries  and  street 
cars,  in  automobiles,  or  in  carriages,  or  perhaps  plodding 
on  foot  through  rain,  snow,  and  mud,  with  suit  case  in 
one  hand  and  umbrella  in  the  other,  like  a  peripatetic 
group  of  actors  or  country  peddlers.  So  the  story  was  car- 
ried, from  Los  Angeles  to  Portland,  Tacoma  and  Seattle. 
There  was  a  large  dinner  in  Portland  and  a  great  recep- 
tion in  San  Francisco,  besides  many  smaller  parlor  func- 
tions. Everywhere  deep  interest  was  created.  How 
much  good  was  done  in  this  direction  only  eternity  will 
tell,  but  we  know  it  was  not  a  little.  Here  and  there 
people  gave  themselves  for  the  work,  little  by  little  the 
sums  needed  came  in,  but  the  total  that  was  necessary 
was  far  from  attainment  until  two  good  Christian  men 
in  Los  Angeles  topped  all  with  a  magnificent  gift  for 
salaries  and  residences  which  made  the  committee  realize 
that  prayer  had  indeed  been  heard  and  that  their  work 
was  practically  done.  We  not  only  thanked  God  on  our 
knees,  but  in  the  fullness  of  our  joy  Dr.  Underwood  and 
I  actually  danced  around  our  room  like  a  couple  of 
children.  We  felt,  too,  that  we  had  not  been  permitted 
to  receive  all  that  was  needed  in  the  rich  Eastern  cities 
because  the  Lord  intended  that  the  story  should  be  heard 
all  through  the  country  to  its  most  Western  border. 

On  May  ist,  1910,  $170,617  had  been  subscribed  and 
pledges  still  continued  to  come  in.  Support  for  twenty- 
seven  missionaries  and  residences  for  all  •had  been  se- 
cured. The  pledges  covered  such  items  as  the  following: 
for  Pyeng  Yang,  the  Academy,  the  Theological  Seminary 
and  the  Hospital ;  for  Kanghei,  the  Bible  Institute,  Hos- 
pital, Bookroom  and  residences ;  for  Syenchun,  the  large 


The  Korean  Propaganda  in  America     273 

Academy  and  Industrial  School ;  for  Seoul,  the  Academy 
and  Tract  Society  building;  for  Chungju,  the  Hospital, 
besides  money  for  many  other  institutions. 

Dr.  Underwood  returned  to  New  York  in  May  and 
underwent  a  surgical  operation.  This  disabled  him  for 
some  weeks.  It  was  thought  best  for  him  to  return  to 
Korea  by  way  of  Europe,  so  that  he  might  again 
spend  at  least  a  month  in  Switzerland  before  re- 
turning to  his  work.  He  reached  Korea  via  Siberia 
in  August,  just  in  time  to  attend  the  annual  meet- 
ing then  being  held  at  Pyeng  Yang,  where  he  received 
a  hearty  welcome  and  the  thanks  of  the  Mission  for  the 
efforts  he  and  his  co-workers  had  made  in  America.  It 
is  worthy  of  note  that  in  carrying  on  the  propaganda  he 
did  not  work  first  for  his  own  station,  and  afterwards 
for  others,  but  rather  put  forward  the  needs  of  others 
first.  He  manifested  that  attitude  not  only  towards  the 
work  in  Korea,  but  also  ahnost  to  the  same  extent  to 
mission  work  in  every  land.  His  spirit  was  remarkably 
catholic,  embracing  in  its  arms  of  love  everything  truly 
related  to  Christ  and  His  Kingdom. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
DIVISION  OF  TERRITORY 

DR.  UNDERWOOD  had,  from  his  earliest  years 
in  Korea,  always  looked  forward  to  developing 
a  college  in  Seoul  out  of  the  high  school  for 
boys  which  was  carried  on  there,  and  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  that  station  were  at  one  with  him  in  this  expec- 
tation. About  1906,  the  Mission,  after  some  discussion, 
granted  permission  to  Seoul  Station  to  take  steps  look- 
ing towards  this  project,  and  in  1908  the  Mission  declared 
its  intention  to  establish  colleges  at  Pyeng  Yang  and 
Seoul,  which  is  an  interesting  fact  as  one  now  reviews 
the  discussions  of  later  years. 

While  traveling  throughout  America  on  the  Korea 
propaganda  referred  to  above,  he  and  Dr.  Avison,  relying 
on  this  decision,  laid  plans  for  the  development  in  Seoul 
of  a  first-class  college,  and  for  the  establishment  of  a 
fund,  to  be  known  as  the  "Educational  Foundation  for 
Korea,"  which  should  be  sufficient  for  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  the  two  colleges  and  also  of  all  the 
secondary  schools  of  all  the  missions.  This  proposition 
did  not  commend  itself  to  a  majority  of  their  colleagues, 
and  the  request  of  Seoul  Station  for  an  appropriation  of 
$10,000  for  a  college  building  was  adversely  voted  on  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Mission  in  1909,  and  in  the 

274 


Division  of  Territory  275 

following  year  a  resolution  was  carried  recommending 
that  a  college  in  Seoul  be  not  undertaken  at  present. 

This  attitude  of  the  Mission  was  very  disappointing 
to  Dr.  Underwood  and  most  of  the  members  of  Seoul 
Station,  who  regarded  the  carrying  out  of  the  project 
as  essential  to  the  development  of  the  station's  work 
and  to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country.  This 
difference  of  opinion  between  Seoul  Station  and  other 
members  of  the  Mission  was  founded  on  such  strong  con- 
victions on  both  sides  that  it  has  so  far  been  impossible 
to  find  a  common  ground  on  which  to  unite.  Moreover, 
as  the  Home  Boards  had  decided  that  there  should  be 
but  one  college  in  Korea  and  that  it  should  be  a  union 
college,  its  type  and  location  became  the  common  interest 
of  all  the  missions,  so  that  the  controversy  could  not  be 
ended  by  the  decision  of  one  mission — no  matter  by  how 
large  a  majority  it  was  made. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  setting  forth  the  pros  and 
cons  of  the  question,  but  it  may  be  said  that  when  the 
question  of  location  was  referred  to  the  Joint  Committee 
on  Education  in  America  for  decision,  it  voted  for  Seoul, 
and  this  was  confirmed  by  all  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards 
concerned. 

This  decision  was,  of  course,  satisfactory  to  Dr.  Un- 
derwood and  Seoul  Station,  and  may  be  taken  as  an  attes- 
tation of  their  good  judgment  in  the  matter.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  this  decision  of  the  Boards  was  not 
loyally  accepted  by  all  the  missions,  for  the  prolonged 
controversy  with  his  brethren  and  the  bitterness  mani- 
fested by  a  considerable  number  of  them  so  reacted  upon 
him  that  his  health  failed,  and  there  seems  good  reason 
to  believe  that  his  life  was  shortened  as  a  result  of  the 


276  Underwood  of  Korea 

strain.  He  sometimes  almost  wavered  in  his  adherence 
to  his  own  judgment  concerning  this  matter,  thinking  that 
in  view  of  the  determined  opposition  of  so  many  of  his 
brethren,  it  was  possible  he  and  those  who  agreed  with 
him  might  be  wrong  in  their  conclusions,  so  he  sought  the 
opinions  of  many  unprejudiced  observers  who  had  had 
wide  experience  in  Christian  educational  work  and' whose 
judgment  he  valued.  When,  as  happened  in  every  such 
case,  the  view  he  had  been  tenaciously  holding  was  de- 
clared to  be  right,  he  could  see  nothing  to  do  but  per- 
severe. 

A  notable  event  of  the  year  was  the  successful  ac- 
complishment of  the  division  of  practically  all  of  Korea 
among  the  missions  of  the  General  Council,  so  that,  as 
a  rule,  no  two  missions  would  be  at  work  in  the  same 
territory.  Dr.  Underwood,  in  an  article  published  in 
"The  Korea  Field,"  noted  that  the  harmony  in  the 
various  missions  had  been  remarkable  from  the  start, 
as  efforts  had  always  been  made  to  prevent  overlapping, 
which  was  the  most  frequent  cause  of  friction  as  well 
as  waste  of  time,  money  and  strength.  As  the  work 
grew,  however,  groups  of  believers  who  considered  them- 
selves Methodists,  because  they  were  first  awakened 
through  the  ministry  of  Methodist  teachers,  were  located 
near  Presbyterian  churches,  and  vice  versa,  so  that  in 
later  years  a  good  deal  of  overlapping  had  occurred, 
which  proved  to  be  a  source  of  considerable  annoyance 
first  to  one  mission  and  then  to  another.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  Southern  Presbyterians,  the  Canadian  Presby- 
terians, the  Australian  Presbyterians  and  the  Southern 
Methodists  had  fairly  well  marked  delimitations  of  dis- 
tricts, although  even  in  them  there  had  been  some  over- 


Division  of  Territory  277 

lapping;  but  he  spoke  of  the  more  difficult  problems  be- 
tween the  Northern  Presbyterians  and  Northern  Meth- 
odists, whose  fields  were  practically  identical,  so  that 
misunderstandings  had  become  very  frequent.  He  called 
attention  to  the  great  advantage  that  would  result  from 
a  general  division  of  the  whole  country  among  the  mis- 
sions concerned,  so  that  each  should  have  undisputed 
territory  of  its  own  in  which  to  work  without  fear  of 
such  unhappy  bickerings.  The  principle  was  laid  down 
that  each  mission  should  have  a  territory  allotted  to  it 
proportionate  to  the  number  of  missionaries  it  could  rea- 
sonably expect  its  Board  to  send  to  it,  it  being  granted, 
of  course,  that  as  far  as  possible  each  mission  should 
continue  to  work  in  the  territory  where  it  already  had 
its  strongest  foothold. 

Committees  to  arrange  this  division  had  been  appointed 
by  the  various  missions  and  had  already  arranged  the 
proportionate  amount  of  territory  to  be  given  to  each 
mission,  and  in  September,  1909,  they  met  in  Seoul  to 
consider  just  how  to  divide  the  territory  so  as  to  comply 
with  that  arrangement  and  yet  cause  as  little  disturbance 
as  possible  to  the  denominational  relationship  of  the 
churches  already  existing. 

The  Rev.  C.  D.  Morris  of  the  Methodist  mission 
writes  regarding  this:  '1  am  glad  to  write  my  recollec- 
tion of  the  part  that  Dr.  Underwood  had  in  settling  the 
territorial  problem.  The  first  agreement  had  been  in 
1905  and  in  1909  it  was  felt  that  the  final  judgment 
should  be  made  without  further  delay  or  the  opportunity 
to  do  so  would  pass  for  all  time.  Accordingly  in  August, 
1909,  committees  with  power,  for  the  Northern  Pres- 
byterian Mission  and  the  Northern  Methodist  Episcopal 


278  Underwood  of  Korea 

Mission  met  together  in  Seoul  to  see  what  adjustment 
could  be  made  that  would  be  satisfactory  to  all,  but 
reaching  no  definite  conclusion,  decided  to  postpone  the 
conference  until  Dr.  A.  J.  Brown,  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  visited  Seoul.  When  he 
came  the  committee  again  met,  but  the  personnel  had 
been  somewhat  changed  so  that  Graham  Lee  and  Dr. 
Underwood  were  among  the  representatives  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission.  Two  days  more  were  spent  in 
conference  and  the  difficulties  encountered  were  so 
great  that  the  time  had  almost  expired  before  we 
had  reached  a  successful  adjustment.  Late  in  the  fore- 
noon of  the  second  day,  when  the  outlook  was  most 
discouraging.  Dr.  Lee  suggested  that  we  go  to  prayer 
and  he  led  us  most  tenderly  as  he  pleaded  for  help 
in  our  extremity.  In  the  afternoon  a  joint  committee 
met  in  the  office  of  Severance  Hospital  and  up  to  three 
or  four  o'clock  no  progress  had  been  made.  I  remember 
one  of  the  Methodist  brethren  asking  Dr.  Underwood 
what  he  thought,  and  he  replied  that  he  feared  we 
would  have  to  go  on  and  do  the  best  we  could 
under  the  old  conditions.  This  brother  then  said:  '*Dr. 
Underwood,  you  try  and  work  out  a  solution. '*  Dr. 
Underwood  took  a  little  pencil  and  a  scrap  of  paper  and 
jotted  down  what  he  thought  would  be  a  fair  basis  for 
the  division  of  all  the  territory  in  question  between  the 
two  missions.  As  soon  as  he  had  read  what  he  had 
written,  everyone  felt  the  reasonableness  of  his  pro- 
posals and  immediately  it  was  unanimously  carried  that 
Dr.  Underwood's  suggestion  be  made  the  basis  of  the 
final  division  of  all  the  territory  between  the  two  mis- 
sions.    After  a  record  had  been  made  by  the  secretary 


Division  of  Territory  279 

of  the  meeting  I  preserved  the  original  paper  Dr. 
Underwood  had  written  and  I  have  ahvays  felt  that  to 
him,  under  God's  direction,  was  due  the  solution  of 
one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  we  have  had  in  con- 
nection v/ith  our  common  work  in  Korea.  The  Native 
Presbytery  which  had  been  organized  during  Dr.  Under- 
v/ood's  absence  held  its  third  meeting  just  after  this 
and  elected  him  its  Chairman.  This  Presbytery  among 
other  things  decided  to  publish  a  church  paper,  called 
the  "Korea  Church  Recorder,"  and  placed  it  under  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  Dr.  Gale,  Dr.  Underwood,  Pastor 
Han,  and  Elder  Chun. 

The  boys'  academy,  called  the  John  D.  Wells  School 
for  Christian  Workers,  was  enlarged  and  rebuilt  at  this 
time  according  to  plans  prepared  by  Dr.  Underwood  and 
serious  trouble  having  occurred  among  the  students,  it 
was  felt  by  the  mission  that  a  change  should  be  made 
in  the  personnel  of  the  faculty,  and  Dr.  Underwood  was 
persuaded  in  addition  to  all  his  other  work  to  take  the 
office  of  Principal.  He  was  fond  of  boys  and  of  teach- 
ing, and  really  enjoyed  his  new  duties,  although  they 
made  his  burdens  heavier. 

The  General  Council  of  Missions  held  its  fifth  annual 
meeting  the  same  fall.  The  members  were  thrilled  as 
they  Hstened  to  the  reports  and  heard  how  companies 
of  missionaries  and  Korean  Christians  had  been  fasting 
and  praying  without  any  previous  arrangement  or  settled 
plan,  often  all  night,  and  sometimes  many  nights  in  suc- 
cession, in  Song  Do,  Pyeng  Yang,  Seoul,  and  other 
places,  and  how  they  had  been  led  to  ask  greater  and 
greater  gifts,  until  now  a  suggestion  was  offered  that 
we  ask  God  for  one  million  souls  in  Korea  this  year. 


280  Underwood  of  Korea 

A  resolution  to  this  effect  being  presented,  it  was  adopted 
unanimously  in  deep  solemnity.  It  seems  that  the  set- 
tlement of  the  mission  boundaries  and  the  plans  for  scat- 
tering the  word  of  God  broadcast  throughout  the  land 
were  providentially  designed  to  prepare  the  way  for  a 
great  work  of  grace.  The  Bible  Committee  recommended 
getting  out  a  cheap  edition  of  a  gospel  at  a  cost  of  one 
sen  each,  so  the  Koreans  could  buy  and  distribute  them. 
This  resolution  was  also  unanimously  adopted.  A  won- 
derful spirit  of  love,  faith  and  unanimity  was  manifested 
and  all  were  carried  along  as  by  an  irresistible  wave  of 
power. 

The  Pocket  Testament  League  was  formed  during  the 
visit  of  the  Chapman-Alexander  party  who  arrived 
shortly  after  the  Council  had  adjourned  and  who  heard 
with  delight  the  new  watchword.  Messrs.  Underwood, 
Gale,  and  Bunker  were  appointed  to  arrange  for  a  cam- 
paign all  over  Korea  and  for  the  distribution  of  Bibles 
and  portions  of  Bibles.  Over  five  hundred  thousand  of 
these  gospels  were  distributed  in  six  months.  At  Taiku 
a  Bible  class  of  five  hundred  men  bought  sixteen  thou- 
sand for  distribution;  at  Pyeng  Yang  a  class  of  eight 
hundred  took  twenty-six  thousand,  and  at  Syenchun  a 
class  of  one  hundred  took  thirty-three  thousand;  alto- 
gether over  seven  hundred  thousand  were  used  during 
the  year. 

Another  marked  feature  of  this  campaign,  was  the  way 
in  which  the  Christians  gave  a  stated  number  of  days  of 
work  for  souls.  At  a  Bible  training  conference  at  Pyeng 
Yang  where  eight  hundred  were  present,  seven  thousand 
five  hundred  days  of  work  were  promised.  In  Chair- 
yung  station,  ten  thousand  days  promised  by  the  Chris- 


Division  of  Territory  281 

tians  were  considered  a  conservative  estimate.  Near 
Seoul  a  small  country  class  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
bought  over  five  thousand  gospels  and  promised  one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  days  of  work. 
Over  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred  days  were  promised 
before  March,  hundreds  had  been  baptised,  and  hun- 
dreds more  hopefully  converted. 

Who  dares  say  that  those  prayers  and  labors  and  that 
faith  were  unrewarded  or  that  God  does  not  answer? 
If  seeds  were  then  sown  which  should  bear  fruit  many 
years  hence,  if  one  million  or,  more  likely,  many  millions 
of  names  were  written  in  Heaven  as  a  result  of  that 
work,  what  matters  it  if  those  who  sowed  the  seed  shall 
have  to  wait  until  the  final  harvest  to  see  the  fruit? 
Certain  it  is  that  God  honors  faith  and  has  said  "MY 
word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void."  We  deem  it  right 
to  expect  to  see  those  millions  in  the  Glory  Land,  born 
through  the  work  and  prayers  of  1909.  It  is  not  hard  to 
see  how  forces  then  set  in  motion  rnay  go  on  gathering 
momentum  until  a  very  tornado  of  revival  shall  one  day 
shake  the  nation. 

In  this  year,  1909,  came  the  anniversary  of  the  twenty- 
fifth  year  of  Protestant  Missions  in  Korea.  It  was 
celebrated  in  Pyeng  Yang.  An  address  was  made  by  Dr. 
Allen,  the  first  missionary,  by  Dr.  Moffett  on  Mission 
History,  by  Dr.  Baird  on  Schools,  by  Dr.  Avison  on 
Hospitals,  read  in  his  absence,  by  Miss  Best  on  women's 
work.  Dr.  Adams  had  prepared  a  paper  in  memory  of 
those  who  had  passed  away,  Dr.  Clark  gave  the  statistical 
report,  and  by  Dr.  Underwood^  who  followed  with 
reminiscences.  Quite  an  interesting  coincidence  noted  by 
him  was  that  the  first  Bible  training  class  of  communi- 


282  Underwood  of  Korea 

cants  numbered  seven  men,  the  first  class  of  communi- 
cants numbered  seven,  the  first  graduating  class  of  doctors 
numbered  seven,  and  the  first  graduates  from  the  Pres- 
byterian Seminary  were  also  seven  in  number. 

A  few  brief  items  quoted  from  Dr.  Underwood's  re- 
port to  the  Board,  reviewing  his  work  from  the  fall  of 
1909  to  the  early  summer  of  1910,  may  not  be  amiss. 
Referring  to  his  three  years'  absence,  first  on  account  of 
illness,  and  later  in  order  to  conduct  the  propaganda,  he 
briefly  touches  on  the  reorganization  of  his  country  dis- 
tricts into  three  circuits,  with  a  helper  over  each,  sup- 
ported by  the  native  Christians.  A  general  class 
had  been  held  in  the  early  fall  of  1909,  to  acquaint 
the  people  with  the  million  movement,  and  later  three 
sub-classes  in  different  places  were  cared  for  by  native 
pastors.  Still  later  elders  organized  local  classes  in  many 
other  places,  so  that  a  goodly  number  came  under  the 
instruction.  Many  also  attended  a  Bible  Class  of  ten 
days*  duration  in  Seoul.  An  experienced  Korean  pastor 
was  assigned  to  assist  Dr.  Underwood  in  evangelistic 
work,  whose  salary  was  also  being  paid  by  the  Korean 
Christians.  Four  hundred  and  fifty-three  had  been  re- 
ceived during  the  year,  either  as  catechumens  or  as 
regular  members,  so  that  the  numbers  of  the  previous 
year  had  been  doubled  and  the  membership  of  his  entire 
charge  in  country  and  city  now  amounted  to  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven.  Above  what  they  gave  to 
help  build  the  churches,  and  in  grain  for  schools,  they 
had  contributed  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  dollars. 

He  speaks  of  much  traveling  during  that  year  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 


Division  of  Territory  283 

which  he  was  Chairman,  of  the  settlement  of  the  division 
of  territory,  of  the  Bible  translation,  which  was  carried 
on  faithfully  by  Drs.  Gale  and  Reynolds  in  his  absence, 
and  which  was  now  very  near  completion  in  the  tentative 
edition.  He  had  given  much  time  to  Tract  Society  work, 
but  had  spent  only  six  weeks  in  the  Theological  Semin- 
ary, on  account  of  his  work  in  the  ''John  D.  Wells 
School  for  Christian  Workers,"  of  which  he  had  been 
requested  to  become  principal.  The  report  ends  with 
statistics  of  believers  under  his  care  and  the  amount  of 
their  contributions.  The  mere  outlines,  however,  which 
it  is  only  possible  to  sketch  in  this  report,  give  no  idea 
of  the  multiplicity  of  detail,  the  push  and  pull  of  so 
many  important  and  widely  differing  kinds  of  work,  the 
personal  interviews  with  all  kinds  of  people,  the  immense 
correspondence  on  the  field  and  with  America,  the  long 
wearisome  hours  of  discussion  with  committees,  the 
nervous  strain  of  labor  that  concerned  not  trifles  like 
dollars  and  cents,  but  the  eternal  affairs  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  never  written  in  reports  or  guessed  by  outsiders 
or  even  by  friends. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
A  SERIOUS  INJURY 

IN  the  summer  of  191  o,  Dr.  Underwood,  after  lec- 
turing in  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Pyeng  Yang, 
took  his  family  to  the  seashore  for  a  few  weeks,  the 
story  of  which  is  told  by  his  son,  who  had  been  carrying 
on  his  college  course  in  New  York  University.  He 
writes : 

"On  arriving  in  Korea  from  America  I  found  that  the 
plans  for  the  summer  were  to  take  us  to  Sorai,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made.  As  in  Kipling's  story 
of  the  'White  Seal,'  all  were  incredulous  of  the  wonders 
of  this  beach.  A  few  details  have  already  been  given, 
to  some  extent,  of  the  work,  the  worry,  the  plans, 
and  the  prayers  that  Dr.  Underwood  put  into  this  place, 
before  he  saw  it  on  the  way  to  success.  This  particular 
summer  Dr.  Underwood  thought  it  would  be  pleasant 
to  travel  overland  on  his  return  and  move  through  the 
country  which  for  years  had  been  his  parish.  The  little 
tug  that  accommodated  passengers  to  and  from  Sorai, 
accordingly  departed  for  the  last  time,  that  summer, 
leaving  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Koons  and  their  children,  and 
Mr.  Kerr,  all  of  whom  lived  inland  at  the  mission  station 
of  Chairyung,  and  ourselves.  The  morning  after  the 
steamer  had  left,  there  was  a  slight  drizzle  of  rain,  but 
despite  this  my  father  was  up  early  as  usual,  and  after 

284 


A  Serious  Injury  285 

attending  to  some  work  around  the  house,  called  me, 
and  we  started  together  to  oversee  certain  new  improve- 
ments we  were  having  done  at  another  part  of  the  prop- 
erty. Between  our  house  and  the  little  cottage  occupied 
by  Mr.  Koons  was  a  small  ditch,  and  across  this  a  couple 
of  planks  had  been  laid.  Wet  with  the  rain,  they  were 
quite  slippery,  and  I  heard  simultaneously  a  crack  and 
a  scream  from  my  father,  and  wheeled  around  just  in 
time  to  see  him  fall  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Koons  and  I 
laid  him  on  the  planks  that  had  done  the  mischief,  and 
carried  him  to  our  house.  As  we  went  he  begged  us  to 
take  him  by  a  door  not  visible  from  Mrs.  Underwood's 
room,  that  she  might  not  have  the  shock  of  seeing  him 
brought  in  on  a  stretcher.  I  went  in  and  told  my  mother 
and  apparently  showed  the  shock  so  plainly  in  my  face 
that  she  feared  he  was  killed,  and  hearing  it  was  only  a 
broken  leg,  her  relief  was  so  great  she  cried  out,  *Oh, 
I  am  so  glad,'  thereby  putting  a  weapon,  which  was 
used  against  her  for  years,  in  the  hands  of  my  fun- 
loving  father.  A  hasty  examination  by  my  mother  showed 
that  the  knee  cap  was  broken.  The  question  was  then 
how  quickest  to  get  Dr.  Underwood  to  proper  surgical 
aid.  The  nearest  doctor  with  a  hospital  was  Dr.  Whit- 
ing, seventy  miles  away  in  Chairyung.  Obviously  Dr. 
Underwood  must  be  carried,  but  professional  chair 
coolies  are  not  to  be  had  in  every  Httle  village.  He 
would  need  at  least  eight  men  for  a  long  trip  like  that, 
then  two  coolies  for  Mrs.  Underwood  and  two  for  the 
Koons  children  must  be  had,  not  to  speak  of  others  to 
carry  food  and  bedding  for  these  people  for  two  days. 
Where  should  we  get  them,  who  should  go  with  Dr. 
Underwood,   and   how  should  we  rig  the  litter?     My 


286  Underwood  of  Korea 

mother  had  her  frail  hands  more  than  full  dressing  and 
bandaging  and  preparing  my  father  for  his  trip.  I  had 
been  away  too  long  to  know  the  ropes  and  had  no  expe- 
rience in  handling  men,  and  was  only  a  frightened  boy. 
Fortunately,  Mr.  Koons  combined  all  the  qualities  of 
quickness  of  thought  and  energy,  which  we  like  to  call 
American,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  people  and 
the  language.  While  we  fixed  the  bed  for  my  father 
with  oilcloth  underneath  and  above,  bandaged  his  leg 
and  fastened  an  umbrella  above  his  head,  Mr.  Koons 
did  the  rest,  and  a  message  was  sent  to  the  nearest  size- 
able town  to  secure  chair  coolies.  Another  was  dis- 
patched to  ask  Dr.  Whiting  to  meet  us  en  route.  Poles 
were  cut  and  fastened  to  the  cot,  making  it  into  a  litter. 
'Buster,'  Mr.  Koon's  horse,  was  fed  and  saddled,  food  for 
three  of  us  prepared  and  packed;  eight  of  the  villagers 
were  induced  to  act  as  bearers,  and  more  wonderful  still, 
we  hurried  them  through  breakfast  and  into  traveling 
shape.  Arrangements  were  made  for  closing  the  house, 
and  packing  and  forwarding  our  things.  Before  twelve 
we  were  ready  to  leave,  and  the  morning  drizzle  had 
turned  into  the  steady  downpour  of  an  Oriental  rainy  sea- 
son. Mr.  Koons  and  I  were  to  go  with  my  father,  and 
Mr.  Kerr  was  to  remain  and  follow  with  the  others 
as  soon  as  the  chair  coolies  should  arrive.  It  would 
have  been  far  easier  and  safer  in  one  way  if  we  had 
waited  for  the  professionals,  for  with  six  to  carry 
and  two  to  change  off,  they  will  swing  off  all  day 
at  four  miles  an  hour  with  scarcely  a  jolt  to  the  per- 
son carried,  but  we  feared  the  delay.  Mr.  Koons  and  I 
took  turns  walking  with  the  litter  and  riding  his  horse. 
[The  district  is  a  rice  country,  which  means  water  all 


A  Serious  Injury  287 

the  time,  and  in  the  rainy  season  a  deluge,  with  slippery 
red  clay,  which  balls  up  on  the  feet  as  one  goes  along 
until  they  are  three  times  their  usual  size.  We  had  so 
wrapped  the  patient  in  oilcloth  that  for  a  time  he 
kept  dry.  We  were  soaked  through  in  less  than  two 
miles ;  and  here  let  me  say  a  word  for  the  bearers.  They 
knew  nothing  of  the  science  of  carrying  a  litter,  and 
they  had  a  heavy  burden  to  carry,  but  I  heard  no  com- 
plaint from  them  throughout  the  whole  trip;  each  time 
a  man  stumbled,  his  comrades  adjured  him  to  be  careful 
lest  he  hurt  the  Moksa  (pastor).  He  was  indeed  in  great 
pain  and  every  nerve  was  shaken  by  each  jar.  The  men 
needed  heartening,  urging  and  joking  to  keep  them  up, 
but  their  hearts  were  willing  and  they  felt  more  of  pity 
for  Dr.  Underwood  than  they  thought  of  their  own 
weariness. 

"Streams  not  ordinarily  over  the  ankles  were  so  deep 
that  the  water  swirled  around  the  men's  breasts,  and 
here  they  had  to  raise  the  litter  above  their  heads. 
Our  road  lay  along  slippery  clay  paths  raised  a  foot  or 
two  between  the  rice  fields,  steep  uncertain  passes  and 
raging  streams,  their  beds  covered  with  round  treach- 
erous stones.  We  knew,  and  Dr.  Underwood  knew, 
that  at  any  moment  the  bearers  might  stumble  and  throw 
him  and  perhaps  break  his  leg  again,  and  to  the  stab- 
bing pain  of  each  stumble  was  added  the  strain  of  help- 
less wondering  when  the  fall  would  come.  Soaked 
through,  muddy  from  head  to  foot  and  almost  ready  to 
drop,  we  pushed  on  through  the  gathering  gloom  and 
until  eight  o'clock,  then,  having  put  twenty-five 
weary  miles  behind  us,  and  with  a  pass  in  front,  we 
stopped  at  a  little  village.     The  litter  was  too  long  to 


288  Underwood  of  Korea 

go  inside  any  of  the  native  huts,  so  we  placed  him  under 
the  shelter  of  a  large  tree  and  rigged  up  more  oilcloth. 
The  bearers  swallowed  a  little  supper  and  fell  asleep  in- 
stantly, as  tired  a  set  of  men  as  I  ever  saw ;  not  so  Mr. 
Koons  and  I.  In  the  little  square  around  the  tree  were 
tethered  an  ox,  a  cow  and  two  musical  donkeys,  not  to 
speak  of  mongrel  dogs  which  barked  and  snarled  seem- 
ingly everywhere. 

''My  father  had  kept  up  wonderfully,  making  jokes 
with  the  bearers,  to  their  huge  delight,  making  puns  on 
our  appearance,  and  trying  his  best  to  give  no  sign  of 
the  pain  and  strain  he  was  under,  but  he  was  by  this  time 
almost  at  the  end  of  his  endurance.  We  prepared  some 
hot  nourishment  for  him,  fixed  him  a  little  more  comfort- 
ably, snatched  a  bite  for  ourselves,  and  by  then  it  was 
half  past  ten.  One  of  us  must  keep  guard  with  Dr. 
Underwood  while  the  other  slept.  I  chose  to  watch  first,  so 
Mr.  Koons  rolled  into  the  little  room  and  went  to  sleep  as 
he  was,  soaked  to  the  skin.  The  devices  I  used  to  keep 
awake  until  half  past  twelve,  when  I  called  him,  were 
numberless ;  a  little  longer  and  none  of  them  would  have 
availed.  At  twelve-thirty  I  turned  in,  and  it  seemed  that 
I  had  no  more  than  laid  down  when  Mr.  Koons  wakened 
me  at  one-thirty  to  say  that  the  clouds  had  blown  partly 
away,  the  moon  was  out,  and  it  was  bright  enough  to 
travel.  We  routed  out  the  coolies,  and  by  2  a.m.  were 
winding  our  way  up  the  pass.  On  the  other  side  the 
road  ran  along  dikes  between  the  terraced  rice  fields. 
We  had  hardly  started  down  when  the  moon  bade  us 
good-bye  and  it  was  as  dark  as  the  proverbial  pocket. 
Fortunately,  my  father  was  drowsy  with  morphine  we 
had  given  him  during  the  night  and  hardly  knew  what 


A  Serious  Injury  289 

was  going  on.  Three  times  one  or  more  of  the  men  fell, 
and  the  litter  was  saved  only  by  the  care  and  quickness 
of  the  others.  Morning  brought  a  slight  cessation  of  the 
rain  and  for  a  couple  of  hours  we  were  dry  over  head 
if  not  under  foot,  for  all  the  paths  were  little  streams. 
About  9  A.M.  we  met  Dr.  Whiting,  who  administered 
more  sedatives,  replaced  the  improvised  splints,  which 
had  become  loosened,  then  started  back  to  Chairyung  to 
prepare  for  us.  About  noon  Mr.  Koons,  leaving  his 
horse  to  me,  started  back,  over  the  way  we  had  come, 
to  meet  and  help  his  family  and  my  mother.  Forcing 
the  weary  bearers  on,  we  struggled  on  until  about  five 
in  the  afternoon,  when  we  met  eight  husky  chair  coolies 
sent  out  by  Dr.  Whiting.  I  paid  off  the  poor  men  who 
had  done  so  well  and  we  started  on  again.  About  six 
we  reached  a  large  village  just  about  ten  miles  from 
Chairyung,  and  if  we  hurried  we  might  get  in  before 
dark.  Here  the  chair  coolies  struck:  they  must  eat  or 
they  would  not  go  a  step  further.  Threats,  prayers, 
promises  were  of  no  avail,  the  litter  was  set  down  in 
the  street,  and  eat  they  did  for  forty  precious  minutes, 
while  I  stamped  about  trying  to  keep  off  the  throng  of 
over-curious.  At  last  we  were  on  the  way  again  and  I 
urged  the  men  on  at  top  speed,  for  I  knew  what  was 
ahead  of  us. 

"The  town  of  Chairyung  lies  at  one  side  of  a  broad 
low  plain,  which  takes  the  drainage  from  the  surrounding 
hills.  In  order  that  they  might  not  be  entirely  flooded 
out  during  the  rainy  season,  two  great  dikes,  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  high,  have  been  built  to  confine  the  flood 
waters  between  their  banks.  The  road  lies  along  the  top 
of  these,  and  then  down  and  across  them.    To  cross  the 


290  Underwood  of  Korea 

little  trickle  in  their  beds  at  ordinary  times  is  a  little 
bridge,  but  when  the  waters  are  up,  this  bridge  is  covered 
and  a  boat  is  supposed  to  be  on  hand  to  ferry  one  across. 
These  dikes  are  about  two  or  three  miles  from  Chairyung 
and  at  night  the  lights  seem  tantalizingly  near.  About 
half  an  hour  before  dark  it  began  to  pour  in  buckets,  and 
by  this  time  we  were  fairly  on  the  dikes.  It  was  so 
dark  that  I  could  not  see  my  horse's  head.  One  lantern 
sent  out  with  the  coolies  from  Chairyung,  was  carried 
by  the  leading  man,  and  its  fitful  flame  as  it  swung  in  his 
hand  was  almost  more  hindrance  than  help.  My  horse 
slipped  twice  on  the  banks,  which  are  only  two  or  three 
feet  wide  at  the  top  and  of  clay.  I  dismounted  then, 
as  I  preferred  to  walk  rather  than  take  a  chance  of  roll- 
ing thirty  feet  into  muddy  water,  with  the  horse  on  top 
of  me.  I  got  off  and  felt  my  way  along  on  my  hands 
and  knees.  How  the  coolies  kept  their  balance  on  top 
of  that  uneven  slippery  path  I  do  not  know.  The  wind 
caught  the  litter  and  its  umbrella  and  made  balancing 
doubly  difficult.  Somehow  we  crept  along  inch  by  inch, 
then  down  the  slippery  banks  to  where  the  bridge  ought 
to  be,  the  coolies  feeling  for  it  a  foot  at  a  time  under 
two  or  three  feet  of  swirling  water.  Father  was  fully 
awake  by  now  and  lying  in  a  pool  of  water,  which  in 
this  downpour  the  umbrellas  and  oilcloth  were  utterly 
inadequate  to  keep  out.  Seeing  the  litter  safely  across, 
the  horse  and  I  missed  the  bridge,  but  plunged  and 
scrambled  through  somehow  to  find  that  the  coolies  were 
at  a  loss  to  find  the  path  that  went  up  the  other  bank. 
I,  therefore,  got  down  on  my  hands  and  knees  again  and 
felt  around  until  I  found  it,  and  we  proceeded  once  more. 


A  Serious  Injury  291 

A  little  farther  along  and  then  down  on  the  outside  and 
we  were  over  the  dikes  safely,  but  how  I  do  not  know. 

**We  were  still  several  miles  from  Chairyung.  Several 
times  I  had  to  get  down  on  all  fours  to  find  the  elusive 
path,  from  which  we  had  stumbled  in  the  dark.  Finally 
we  reached  the  village  and  then  the  little  hospital,  after 
coming  sixty  miles  in  a  day  and  a  half.  Few  people 
have  looked  so  good  to  me  as  Dr.  Whiting  and  his  as- 
sistants did,  as  they  took  father  from  the  coolies  and 
carried  him  in  to  a  clean  bed,  dry  clothes  and  proper 
care,  nor  shall  I  forget  the  look  of  horror  on  the  faces 
of  the  family  as  they  took  in  my  appearance.  Touseled 
wet  hair,  sleepy  tired  eyes,  two  or  three  days'  growth 
of  beard,  which  with  the  rest  of  my  person  was  plastered 
with  mud  of  assorted  colors,  red,  black,  and  gray,  with 
little  rivulets  descending  from  me  on  all  sides.  Very 
hospitable  it  was,  indeed,  to  take  in  such  as  I.  The  next 
day  Dr.  Whiting  took  father  to  the  railroad,  crossing 
seventeen  ferries  where  ordinarily  were  only  two,  and 
loaded  him  into  a  box  car  and  took  him  up  to  Seoul. 
That  same  afternoon  the  rest  of  the  party  arrived  after 
troubles  of  their  own,  and  with  one  night's  rest  we 
followed.  In  Seoul  were  proper  facilities  for  treatment, 
and  gradually,  after  weeks  of  great  pain,  Dr.  Underwood 
recovered  the  use  of  his  leg,  though  to  the  last  the  knee 
was  stiff,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  mount  or 
dismount  from  a  horse.  It  was  a  trip  I  shall  not  soon 
forget,  especially  the  example  of  patience  and  courage 
shown  by  Dr.  Underwood,  not  only  under  pain,  sleepless- 
ness and  discomfort,  but  in  the  constant  strain  of  the 
uncertainties  of  the  road  and  the  likelihood  of  being 
thrown." 


292  Underwood  of  Korea 

After  enduring  one  of  the  most  painful  operations, 
Dr.  Underwood  was  confined  to  his  bed  for  nearly  two 
months,  so  his  work  was  interrupted  for  a  long  time; 
still,  after  the  first  few  weeks  he  managed  to  carry  on 
much  of  his  usual  literary  work,  and  the  oversight  of  the 
evangelistic  work  through  helpers,  with  the  care  of  the 
school,  which,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  be  carried,  he 
attended  every  day. 


CHAPTER  XX 
SHOWERS  OF  BLESSING 

A  GENERAL  evangelistic  campaign,  to  begin  in 
Seoul  and  to  be  carried  on  throughout  the 
country  by  all  denominations,  embracing  all 
Korea,  was  the  arrangement  for  the  fall  of  191 1.  This 
was  done  in  response  to  a  movement  at  the  Syenchun 
Presbyterial  meeting,  and  the  plans  of  leading  Methodists. 
Dr.  Underwood  was  chairman  of  this  campaign  commit- 
tee, and  he  put  into  the  work  careful  planning  and  inde- 
fatigable labor.  The  Seoul  evangelistic  committee  served 
as  a  central  campaign  committee  for  the  whole  country, 
and  sent  information  of  the  plans  for  work  to  each 
missionary,  who  was  in  turn  to  pass  the  word  to  the 
country  Christians.  A  week  of  preparation  for  all  mis- 
sionaries and  leaders  was  held  in  Seoul,  with  daily 
meetings  in  all  the  Churches  and  simultaneously  in 
every  theater  and  hall,  as  well  as  in  tents,  and  also 
out  of  doors.  Then  came  a  national  week  of  prayer. 
Revival  hymnals  had  been  published,  and  a  column 
was  occupied  in  each  daily  paper  for  a  month. 
After  the  work  had  well  begun  in  each  station,  it  was 
carried  to  each  group,  and  by  November  it  was  going 
on  through  the  whole  country.  Evangelists  were  sent 
from  point  to  point  as  the  work  progressed.  I  have 
found  no  statistics  as  to  results,  excepting  reports  from 

293 


^94  Underwood  of  Korea 

missionaries  here  and  there,  but  we  know  that  thousands 
were  hopefully  converted  and  the  Gospel  was  so  widely 
advertised  as  to  reach  practically  every  home  in  Korea. 
Mr.  W.  N.  Blair  reported  that  more  new  groups  had  been 
organized  in  his  district  in  that  year  than  in  the  five  pre- 
ceding years,  and  two  groups  he  had  regarded  as  dead 
had  come  to  life.  Over  seven  hundred  catechumens  were 
received  in  Mr.  Holdcoft's  circuit.  In  Mr.  Swallen's 
district  there  were  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight  bap- 
tized and  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty- two  cate- 
chumens received.  In  Mr.  Bernheisers  district  four  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  were  baptized  and  six  hundred  and 
seventy- four  catechumens  received.  Those  churches 
would  probably  have  had  large  numbers  of  new  believers 
in  any  case ;  how  much  was  due  to  the  campaign  we  can- 
not tell.  Eternity  only  can  reveal  the  results.  How  our 
missionaries  prayed  together,  and  with  other  people  for 
hours,  day  after  day  and  week  after  week ;  how  they  all 
worked,  trudging  to  and  from  city  and  country  districts, 
visiting  heathen  homes,  distributing  tracts  and  gospels, 
holding  meetings  and  personal  interviews,  is  recorded 
only  in  the  heart  of  their  Lord. 

In  191 1,  Dr.  Underwood  paid  a  visit  to  We  Ju  with 
the  Executive  Committee  to  decide  on  the  proposition  to 
open  a  station  there.  They  were  most  enthusiastically 
received,  and  as  he  had  not  been  there  since  his  first  trip 
in  1889,  he  savvr  great  and  blessed  changes,  in  the  large 
number  of  Christians  and  many  flourishing  self  support- 
ing churches. 

In  June,  191 1,  Dr.  W.  W.  White  of  New  York,  Mr. 
J.  Campbell  White  and  Mr.  Eddy  came  to  Seoul  and 
held  a  conference  with  the  missionaries,  when  an  eflfort 


Showers  of  Blessing  295 

was  made  to  organize  a  missionary  training  school  and 
Union  Bible  Institute  in  Seoul.  Although  the  plans  then 
made  did  not  meet  with  favor  in  our  mission,  they  later 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  present  Pierson  Me- 
morial Union  Bible  Institute.  Dr.  Underwood,  as  may 
be  expected,  took  his  full  share  in  promoting  these  insti- 
tutions. 

That  year  the  new  Tract  Society  building  was  opened. 
Dr.  Underwood  presided  as  Chairman,  and  said  that 
this  opening  marked  the  last  of  three  stages  in  the  history 
of  the  society.  First,  when  the  first  funds  were  given 
for  the  publishing  of  a  few  books  and  tracts ;  second,  when 
the  British  and  American  Tract  Societies  united  to  sup- 
port a  manager,  and  now,  though  small,  they  had  a  build- 
ing in  which  to  store  their  books  and  carry  on  the  business 
of  the  Society. 

In  June,  191 1,  an  Educational  Information  Bureau  was 
established  to  assist  missionaries  all  over  the  country 
by  keeping  them  posted  about  educational  matters  of 
interest,  to  supply  information  regarding  schools  of  all 
grades,  and  to  translate  and  forward  all  official  educa- 
tional notices.  In  order  to  do  this  business  and  translate 
these  documents,  a  secretary  was  recognized  as  neces- 
sary, and  so  any  one  desiring  the  help  of  the  bureau 
was  required  to  pay  five  yen  a  year.  Dr.  Underwood 
was  made  chairman  of  this  bureau  and  Mr.  Gerdine 
treasurer.  Dr.  Underwood's  office  had  been  for  some 
time  the  center  to  which  all  kinds  of  inquiries,  appeals 
and  requests  from  distant  stations  came,  so  that  this  was 
just  the  official  organization  of  a  work  he  had  already 
been  doing. 

In  the  year  191 2  the  episode  of  the  conspiracy  case 


296  Underwood  of  Korea 

took  place.  Missionaries  as  well  as  Koreans  were  all 
greatly  moved,  and  the  whole  Korean  church  was  stirred 
from  center  to  circumference. 

As  Dr.  Underwood  was  in  America  at  the  time  of  these 
trials,  he  was  not  personally  involved,  except  that  his 
name  was  mentioned  as  having  encouraged  the  so-called 
conspirators.  It  is  therefore  not  necessary  to  discuss  the 
matter  here,  except  to  say  that  when  the  time  came  for 
him  to  return  to  Korea,  some  of  his  friends  suggested 
that  it  might  not  be  safe  for  him  to  do  so.  He  merely 
laughed  at  this  and  returned  at  the  appointed  time. 

While  in  America  he  held  many  conferences  with 
people  interested  in  the  project  of  establishing  a  union 
Christian  college  in  Seoul.  It  was  suggested  at  that  time 
that  in  view  of  the  considerable  opposition  of  the  mission 
in  Korea,  it  be  made  an  independent  interdenominational 
institution.  If  this  were  done  the  money  for  its  support 
would  be  at  once  forthcoming  and  the  difficulty  of  the 
enterprise  would  be  to  a  great  extent  obviated.  This 
plan  was  urged  upon  him,  and  though  the  appeal  was 
strong  to  one  who  knew  what  trouble  he  would  otherwise 
encounter,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  undertake  a 
course  which  would  practically  separate  him  from  both 
his  Board  and  Mission.  He  wanted  the  college  to  be 
the  intimate  concern  of  all  the  missions,  cared  for  and 
shared  in  by  them  all,  and  believing  it  could  be  done, 
he  again  deliberately  avoided  the  easy  way,  and  chose 
the  one,  for  the  Master's  sake,  which  we  well  knew  was 
all  up  hill,  rough  and  thorny. 

At  that  time,  also,  his  brother  urged  him  to  stay  in 
America  and  share  his  business,  offering  him  an  income 
which  meant  opulence  and  ease,  and  work  for  which  Dr. 


Showers  of  Blessing  297 

Underwood  possessed  peculiar  gifts.  Knowing  as  he  did 
that  the  opposition  to  the  College  on  the  part  of  some  of 
his  Mission  was  so  strong  that  they  would  have  welcomed 
his  resignation  and  realizing  that  his  health  was  even 
then  failing,  this  might  well  have  seemed  to  him  to  be 
a  Providential  opening,  with  good  reason  for  him  to  lay 
down  his  Korea  work,  but  not  for  an  instant  did  he 
allow  any  such  suggestion  to  find  lodgement  in  his  mind. 
His  mission  work  was  his  life  and  joy,  even  though  it 
was  also  his  cross,  and  he  would  never  lay  it  down  while 
life  lasted.     So  he  returned  to  Korea. 

During  that  visit  to  America  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  his  only  son  graduate  from  his  own  alma  mater, 
with  honors  and  rewards,  and  of  knowing  that  he  had 
decided  to  go  back  with  his  father  to  take  up  mission 
work.  At  the  same  time  New  York  University  also  con- 
ferred upon  Dr.  Underwood  the  degree  of  LL.D.  It 
gave  him  much  pleasure  too  to  be  the  recipient  of  the 
loving  cup  awarded  to  the  alumnus  who  had  come  the 
greatest  distance  to  attend  the  commencement. 

In  the  meantime,  the  native  church  had  been  growing. 
Presbyteries  had  been  formed  and  in  1912  they  had  met 
together  in  an  informal  Assembly.  But  it  was  not  until 
191 3  that  the  first  regular  delegated  Presbyterian  As- 
sembly was  convened.  Two  hundred  and  thirty  mission-, 
aries  were  present  and  Dr.  Underwood  was  elected  its 
first  Moderator.  Only  five  years  had  elapsed  since  the 
first  native  pastors,  but  seven  in  number,  had  been  or- 
dained and  the  first  Presbytery  organized,  so  that  much 
progress  had  been  made  in  that  short  time.  The  new 
gavel  presented  to  the  Moderator  was  made  of  seven 
different  kinds  of  wood,  representing  the  seven  Pres- 


298  Underwood  of  Korea 

byteries  then  existing.  The  occasion  was  a  notable  one 
to  the  church,  but  perhaps  no  one  else  was  so  happy  as 
he  who,  having  come  to  the  country  as  an  inexperienced 
youth,  when  there  was  not  one  Protestant  Christian 
among  all  its  millions  of  people,  had  watched  the  work 
from  its  very  beginning. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
AMERICAN  DELEGATIONS 

THE  American  Sunday  School  delegation,  on  its  way 
to  the  World  Convention  at  Zurich,  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  Heinz  of  Pittsburgh,  visited 
Seoul  in  April,  191 3,  and  on  Saturday,  the  19th,  a  rally 
of  nearly  all  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  city  was  held 
in  the  palace  grounds  by  the  kind  permission  of  the 
authorities.  Mr.  Bonwick,  Secretary  of  the  Tract  So- 
ciety, a  former  Major  of  the  Salvation  Army,  acted  as 
Grand  Marshal,  with  many  marshals  under  his  direction. 
These  latter  were  the  European  and  native  pastors, 
leaders,  superintendents  and  teachers  of  the  various 
schools.  None  were  admitted  except  on  presentation  of 
one  of  the  tickets  distributed  in  the  churches  by  the 
leaders.  As  each  party  entered  the  gate  its  leader  re- 
ported the  number  in  his  company.  The  total  was  some 
hundreds  over  fourteen  thousand,  which  number  did  not 
include  foreigners  and  the  many  guests,  who  sat  on  the 
raised  bank  which  constituted  the  platform,  while  the 
Sunday  schools  were  gathered  on  the  field  below.  Barely 
one-third  of  those  present  were  children,  but  all  were 
Sunday  school  students,  as  it  is  the  common  custom  for 
large  numbers  of  the  church  members  to  attend  and  study 
in  the  Sunday  schools.  Dr.  Underwood  was  asked  to 
preside  at  this  meeting.    A  harmonium  and  two  cornets 

299 


300  Underwood  of  Korea 

assisted  in  the  music.  The  girls  and  boys  of  several  of 
the  schools  sang  beautiful  hymns,  and  addresses  were 
made  and  prayers  offered  by  Japanese,  Korean  and 
foreign  Christian  leaders,  including  some  of  the  American 
guests.  Clear  and  ringing  voices  were  needed  and 
found,  to  reach  the  ears  and  hold  the  attention  of  so 
large  a  crowd. 

Whatever  may  or  may  not  have  been  accomplished  by 
this  rally,  it  served  a  grand  purpose  in  increasing  the 
feeling  of  unity  in  all  the  different  churches,  the  ''esprit 
du  corps/'  and  brotherhood,  the  spirit  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  one  in  all  countries,  races,  classes,  and  times,  and 
certainly  it  did  our  hearts  good  to  see  those  companies 
of  Bible  students.  Some  of  us  who  had  seen  the  begin- 
nings could  but  adore  and  worship  Him  who  had  wrought 
such  wonders  in  so  short  a  time.  Few  people  knew  that 
Dr.  Underwood  had  been  the  leading  spirit  in  planning 
this  rally.  He  it  was  who  held  conferences  with  the 
head  of  the  gendarmes  and  obtained,  with  some  difficulty, 
permission  for  the  schools  to  march  through  the  streets. 
Not  altogether,  in  a  general  parade,  oh,  no,  each  school 
by  itself.  But  the  way  was  long  and,  with  coming  and 
going,  the  main  streets  of  the  city  were  pretty  well 
crowded,  so  that  traffic  had  very  small  chance  that  after- 
noon in  those  localities.  The  officials  and  non-Christian 
population  were  surprised;  they  had  no  idea  that  there 
were  so  many  Christians  in  and  around  the  city,  or  that 
they  were  of  such  a  high  standing  in  the  community; 
they  learned  that  the  Christians  were  a  factor  worth 
considering. 

During  this  year,  191 3,  Dr.  Underwood  edited  the 
"Christian  News"  with  Dr.  Gale,  under  the  auspices  of 


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American  Delegations  /  301 

the  mission.  He  revised  his  Grammar  of  the  Korean 
language  that  year  and  brought  out  the  much  needed 
new  edition,  as  the  old  one  was  entirely  out  of  print  and 
students  of  the  language  had  to  borrow  wherever  they 
could. 

Dr.  Mott  came  to  Korea  on  behalf  of  the  Edinburgh 
Continuation  Committee  in  191 3  and  met  with  represen- 
tative missionaries,  chiefly  leaders  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  different  missions.  Dr.  Underwood,  being 
Chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  went  to 
Shanghai  to  meet  and  confer  with  Dr.  Mott  on 
methods  and  plans  for  the  best  accomplishment  of  the 
purposes  of  the  Conference  to  be  held  here.  The  prin- 
cipal object  of  Dr.  Mott's  visit  was  to  supply  the  Con- 
tinuation Committee  of  the  World's  Missionary  Confer- 
ence with  data  as  to  how  mission  bodies  on  the  foreign 
fields  and  the  Continuation  Committee  could  be  brought 
into  mutually  helpful  relations.  Eleven  committees  were 
appointed,  ten  of  which  reported  on  the  subjects  com- 
mitted to  them.  Dr.  Underwood  served  on  several  of 
these.  Large  meetings  were  held,  nearly  all  denomina- 
tions being  represented.  Dr.  Mott  made  a  fine  address 
on  Union  to  the  missionaries  and  several  addresses  to 
large  crowds  of  Koreans,  and  a  basis  was  laid  on  which 
to  build  for  Union  later  on.  Dr.  Underwood  acted 
as  his  interpreter  on  most  of  those  occasions.  He  saw 
that  tickets  and  tents  were  ready,  posted  notices  to  all 
parts  of  Korea  and  interviewed  native  workers,  teachers 
and  mission  workers  unceasingly.  Dr.  Mott  expressed 
his  astonishment  at  the  way  Dr.  Underwood  interpreted 
for  three  hours  at  a  large  meeting  held  on  Pai  Chai  school 
grounds,  in  a  tent  where  between  four  and  five  thousand 


302  Underwood  of  Korea 

men  were  assembled.  Before  Dr.  Mott  returned  to 
America  he  expressed  his  strong  feehng  that  Dr.  Under- 
wood was  right  in  working  for  the  estabHshment  of  a 
Union  College  in  Seoul,  which  was  an  encouragement 
to  the  supporters  of  the  project. 

About  that  time  trouble  arose  in  the  Korean  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  which  caused  great  anxiety  and  called  for  ex- 
tremely careful  handling. 

When  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  first  organized  it  was 
placed  under  the  supervision  of  a  committee  located  in 
Shanghai  which  had  jurisdiction  over  a  group  known  as 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.s  of  China,  Hongkong  and  Korea.  After 
the  annexation  of  Korea  by  Japan  it  became  plain  to 
most  people  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  movement  for  Korea 
should  no  longer  be  connected  even  in  name  with  China, 
but  be  either  independent  or  associated  with  the  National 
Committee  of  Japan.  Unfortunately  this  came  up  at  a 
time  when  public  opinion  in  Korea  was  much  agitated 
over  the  conspiracy  trial,  so  there  was  much  opposition 
in  the  Association  membership  to  making  any  move  which 
seemed  in  any  way  like  an  alliance  with  Japan. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  officials  of  the  Government 
General  of  Korea  had  been  greatly  perturbed  by  the 
events  leading  up  to  the  trial  and  by  the  stories  of  in- 
formers and  were  displeased  by  the  attitude  of  many 
missionaries  towards  it.  They  had  been  especially  in- 
censed against  the  Association  because  the  President — 
not  Dr.  Underwood — and  the  general  secretary  had  united 
in  writing  a  letter  criticizing  the  Police  Department, 
which,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  newspapers.  The 
Association  having  thus  come  under  the  ban  of  the 
Government,  a  number  of  malcontents  seized  the  oppor- 


American  Delegations  303 

tunity  to  organize  an  opposition  movement  against  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Some  of  these  were  members  of  the 
Association,  but  many  were  recruited  from  without.  Just 
at  that  time  a  meeting  of  the  China  Committee  was 
held  at  Shanghai,  to  which  two  Koreans  and  one  Amer- 
ican went  as  delegates  from  Korea.  It  was  there  decided 
to  separate  the  work  in  Korea  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Committee  in  China.  This  was  done  in  a  way  that 
was  satisfactory  to  the  representatives  of  both  China  and 
Korea,  and  a  committee  of  fifteen,  composed  of  both 
Koreans  and  Westerners  living  in  Korea,  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  charge  of  the  work  of  the  Association  for 
Koreans. 

Just  at  that  time,  therefore,  there  were  two  separate 
pieces  of  work  to  be  done,  first  to  determine  whether  the 
work  in  Korea  should  be  organized  as  an  independent 
unit  or  whether  it  should  be  affiliated  with  the  National 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Japan,  and  second  to  harmonize  the  dis- 
cordant elements  in  the  Seoul  association,  and  to  see 
that  the  association  was  kept  free  from  the  political 
entanglements  which  threatened  to  destroy  it,  and  make 
sure  that  it  did  not  unnecessarily  place  itself  under  the 
displeasure  of  the  government  authorities.  Fortunately 
Dr.  Mott  came  to  Seoul  at  that  juncture,  and  the  Commit- 
tee had  the  advantage  of  his  varied  experience  and  wise 
judgment.  While  he  was  there  a  meeting  of  the  Seoul 
Association  was  held  to  consider  some  proposed  amend- 
ments to  the  constitution,  and  it  was  learned  that  the 
members  of  the  opposition  society  were  determined  to 
attend  the  meeting  in  a  body  and  try  to  run  it  to  suit 
themselves.  Some  time  previous  to  this,  a  few  of  them 
visited  the  Y.  M.  C.  A,  office  and  forcibly  interfered  with 


304  Underwood  of  Korea 

the  work  of  the  general  secretary.  The  Board  of  Man- 
agers decided  that  only  voting  members  of  the  Associa- 
tion should  be  admitted  to  the  meeting.  Long  before  the 
time  for  the  meeting,  however,  the  opposition  had  nearly 
filled  the  hall  with  its  members,  and  to  offset  this  move, 
the  Board  at  the  last  moment  decided  to  hold  the  meet- 
ing in  another  room.  Stationing  the  membership  secre- 
tary at  the  door,  only  those  who  were  seen  to  be  real 
members  were  allowed  to  pass  in.  In  this  way  the  vot- 
ing members  were  nearly  all  admitted  before  the  oppo- 
sition learned  that  they  had  been  outwitted.  As  soon 
as  they  heard  of  it  they  made  a  rush  in  a  body  to  force 
an  entrance  to  the  meeting.  As  some  of  the  voting 
members  were  in  this  group,  arrangements  had  to  be 
made  for  their  admission,  so  a  body  of  Koreans  and 
foreigners  stood  at  the  door  and  blocked  the  way  while 
the  secretary  determined  the  right  of  attendance  or  other- 
wise. 

Dr.  Mott  had  failed  to  get  into  the  room  early,  and 
so  had  to  force  his  way  through  this  pushing  crowd, 
along  with  Dr.  Underwood. 

Judge  Watanabe,  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
attended  the  meeting,  but  coming  late  had  also  to  make 
his  way  through  the  pushing  crowd  and  be  admitted 
through  the  apex  of  the  wedge  which  held  the  door.  At 
last  the  riotous  opposition  gave  up  their  effort.  Dr. 
Underwood  was  Chairman  of  the  meeting,  which  went  on 
without  disturbance,  and  the  Constitution  was  finally 
amended  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  bona  fide 
members  of  the  Association. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  such  a  commotion  that  the  first 
problem  referred  to  above  had  to  be  settled,  but  the 


[  American  Delegations  305 

Committee  of  Fifteen  tackled  it,  and  in  spite  of  the  fear 
that  so  many  expressed  that  any  alliance  with  Japan 
would  be  keenly  resented  by  the  Koreans,  the  Committee, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  Koreans,  decided  that  it 
would  be  better  for  the  work  to  be  associated  with  the 
best  Christian  element  in  Japan,  than  to  attempt  to  run 
an  independent  course  in  Korea,  subject  to  the  misunder- 
standings of  the  government  officials,  who  would  nat- 
urally be  suspicious  of  the  aims  of  the  Association  for  a 
good  while  to  come. 

But  at  the  same  time  it  was  felt  to  be  highly  desirable 
that  the  Association  work  for  Koreans,  whether  in  Korea 
or  in  Japan,  should  remain  completely  under  the  control 
of  the  Koreans  themselves.  So  a  special  Committee  of 
Five  was  chosen  from  the  fifteen  to  go  to  Japan  to  con- 
sult with  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  Committee  of  Japan.  It  was  decided  that  the 
movement  in  Korea  be  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Japanese  National  Committee  so  far  as  was  necessary 
to  insure  that  the  Korean  Association  should  always 
maintain  the  true  principles  of  Association  work,  but  that 
beyond  this  all  work  for  Koreans  should  be  under  the 
direction  of  a  General  Committee  which  should  be  elected 
by  a  triennial  convention  of  delegates  chosen  by  the 
Korean  Association  and  that  this  agreement  should  never 
be  abrogated  without  the  consent  of  the  Korean  Associa- 
tions. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  arranged  that  the  National 
Committee  of  Japan  should  select  from  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen  elected  in  Korea,  five  men  who  should  become 
members  of  the  National  Committee  of  Japan  with  full 
powers.    This  was  in  April,  1913. 


306  Underwood  of  Korea 

The  National  Committee  selected  as  such  members  the 
five  delegates  who  had  been  sent  to  Japan  on  this  errand, 
viz. :  Drs.  Underwood,  Avison,  and  Messrs.  Ye  Sang  Chai, 
Namkung  Ok,  and  H.  H.  Cynn. 

On  returning  to  Korea  with  this  agreement  signed  and 
attested  by  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  National  Committee  of  Japan,  and  of 
the  five  who  had  gone  over  from  Korea,  supported  by 
the  signature  of  Dr.  Mott,  who  had  been  a  leading  factor 
in  bringing  about  the  good  understanding,  the  majority 
of  the  Association  members  in  Seoul  soon  saw  that  a 
settlement  of  the  very  difficult  question  of  control  and 
of  affiliation  had  been  made  in  a  way  which  gave  to  the 
Korean  Association  all  the  advantages  of  close  affiliation 
with  the  powerful  and  sympathetic  National  organization 
of  Japan,  and  at  the  same  time  assured  the  permanent 
self-government  of  the  Korean  Association. 

Nevertheless,  a  few  in  Seoul  could  not  give  up  the 
somewhat  natural  sentiment  that  any  alliance  with  any- 
thing Japanese  was  a  thing  to  be  avoided,  and  this  feel- 
ing was,  strange  to  say,  most  acute  in  the  minds  of  the 
large  body  of  Korean  young  men  who  had  gone  to  Tokyo 
to  study  in  the  colleges  there,  amongst  whom  an  active 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  grown  up. 

Many  exciting  meetings  were  held  by  these  Tokyo  stu- 
dents, which  in  some  cases  were  even  riotous,  and  it 
became  necessary  for  Dr.  Underwood,  who  was  the 
President  of  the  Seoul  Association,  and  of  the  Committee 
of  Fifteen,  to  go  back  to  Tokyo  to  reason  with  these 
unreasonable  young  patriots,  who  so  thoroughly  mis- 
understood what  had  been  secured  for  them,  and  all  the 
Korean  Associations.    They  apparently  could  not  see,  or 


American  Delegations  307 

would  not  think  calmly  enough  to  realize,  that  the  in- 
evitable trend  of  events  would  force  them  into  some  rela- 
tion with  the  Japanese  National  body,  and  that,  by  this 
well-thought-out  and  politic  step,  a  relation  had  been 
entered  into  which  was  the  most  favorable  for  them  that 
could  have  been  devised.  Dr.  Underwood  tactfully  ex- 
plained the  agreement  to  them  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
returning  to  Seoul  knowing  that  the  storm  had  subsided 
and  a  good  basis  of  understanding  had  been  reached. 

Ever  since  the  occurrence  above  narrated  there  has 
been  complete  harmony  between  the  Government  and  the 
Association,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it 
will  continue. 

Dr.  Underwood's  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
problems  of  the  Korean  people,  his  keen  sympathy  for 
their  sorrows,  his  hold  upon  the  hearts  and  confidence 
of  the  Koreans,  and  withal  his  just  appreciation  of  the 
Japanese  situation,  and  his  confidence  in  the  understand- 
ing and  sympathy  of  the  leaders  in  Association  and 
Church  work  in  Japan,  enabled  him  to  do  many  things 
in  just  such  crises  as  this  which  would  have  been  impos- 
sible to  one  not  so  furnished. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
1914— 1915 

TURNING  now  from  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  the  Bible 
Institute,  in  Dr.  Underwood's  report  to  the 
Mission  Board,  dated  1913,  he  speaks  of  the 
Union  Bible  School,  started  in  the  fall  of  1912,  having 
an  enrollment  of  ninety  and  an  average  attendance  of 
sixty-two.  This  school  later  became  the  Pierson  Memo- 
rial Union  Bible  Institute.  For  many  months  Dr.  Under- 
wood had  been  working  constantly  to  secure  the  site  for 
this  Institute,  corresponding  with  the  Committee  on  the 
Memorial  in  America  as  to  plans  and  equipment,  and 
looking  up  the  best  kinds  of  roofing,  flooring,  plumb- 
ing, etc.,  conferring  with  men  in  charge  of  Bible  Insti- 
tutes in  America  as  to  the  best  methods  of  conducting 
them,  writing,  in  fact,  numberless  letters  on  these  mat- 
ters, holding  Committee  meetings  with  missionaries,  and 
consultations  with  land  agents,  architects,  and  agents 
for  building  materials. 

At  the  same  time  he  was  working  for  the  College  site, 
trying  to  obtain  a  desirable  place  of  sufficient  size  outside 
the  city.  Serious  difficulties  were  put  in  his  way  by 
very  influential  Koreans  on  account  of  important  graves 
at  the  most  desirable  locality,  also  by  business  firms  who 
had  some  previous  contracts,  and  by  the  anti- foreign 
element  who  were  opposed  to  the  College  altogether,  but 

308 


1914-1915  309 

the  favor  of  the  Government  removed  these  difficulties 
one  after  another.  In  addition  to  the  charter  for  the 
College  as  an  educational  institution,  the  charter  for  the 
organization  of  a  Board  of  Managers  had  to  be  secured 
from  the  Government,  and  every  sentence  of  this  as 
of  the  other  had  to  be  discussed  by  correspondence  with 
our  different  Boards  in  America,  and  with  Committees, 
in  fact  with  the  whole  Mission  body  in  Korea.  The 
obtaining  of  the  money  from  the  different  missions,  the 
securing  of  safeguards  as  to  the  Christian  character  of 
the  Institution,  of  which  both  the  Missions  and  Boards 
were  properly  very  careful,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  such 
safeguards,  in  view  of  the  Japanese  education  laws,  all 
demanded  long  conferences,  and  volumes  of  correspond- 
ence. From  his  return  in  1912,  Dr.  Underwood  was 
carrying  on  this  work  against  endless  obstacles  and  dif- 
ficulties with  a  patience,  hopefulness  and  courage  that 
never  failed  nor  wavered  for  an  instant. 

In  1914  the  status  of  Seoul,  which  was  called  in  ques- 
tion as  a  suitable  place  for  the  College,  was  as  follows: 
There  were  forty-eight  Christian  churches  within  a 
radius  of  six  miles  from  the  center  of  the  city,  twenty 
of  which  were  within  the  city  walls.  These  did  not 
include  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Japanese 
Churches  and  the  so-called  independent  Korean  Chinxhes. 
There  were  in  addition  two  Bible  Schools  for  men,  teach- 
ing six  months  each  year,  and  the  Methodist  Theological 
Seminary,  which  is  in  session  six  months.  There  were 
one  Woman's  Bible  School  having  a  nine  months'  term, 
two  Bible  Societies,  and  one  Tract  Society.  There  was 
besides  a  very  flourishing  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  Koreans  and 
one   recently   started   for  Japanese.     In   addition   there 


310  Underwood  of  Korea 

were  Bible  Institutes  conducted  by  the  several  churches 
with  sessions  from  September  to  the  end  of  April. 
During  this  period  there  was  not  a  man,  woman  or  child 
of  the  ten  thousand  Christians  of  this  section  who  did 
not  have  the  privilege  of  special  Bible  instruction,  and 
there  was  not  a  church  in  the  list  where  special  revival 
efforts  were  not  conducted  during  the  year. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  1914,  the  thirtieth  anniversary, 
according  to  Korean  count,  of  Dr.  Underwood's  arrival 
in  Korea,  which  marked  to  them  what  was  an  important 
date,  a  half  cycle  of  years,  the  Presbytery  of  Seoul  ar- 
ranged to  celebrate  the  occasion  by  holding  congratu- 
latory services  in  Seung  Dong  Church,  the  largest  in  the 
city.  A  programme  was  arranged  of  music,  hymns,  scrip- 
ture, prayers  and  speeches;  there  was  a  presentation  of 
memorial  gifts  in  silver,  and  a  very  beautifully  embroid- 
ered map  of  Korea,  giving  the  divisions  of  territory  in 
different  colors,  and  marking  the  wedding  trip  which  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Underwood  took  to  the  Chinese  border  in  1889. 
These  were  presented  with  appropriate  remarks  expres- 
sive of  much  affection  and  tender  regard,  by  representa- 
tives of  the  seven  churches  of  the  Presbytery.  A  photo- 
graph was  taken  of  Dr.  Underwood  and  the  congregation 
assembled  on  the  platform  and  in  the  church,  and  a  collec- 
tion was  taken,  which  was  the  first  of  a  fund  given  by  the 
churches  of  the  Presbytery  to  build  a  Memorial  Church  in 
one  of  the  country  districts  near  Seoul,  to  commemorate 
the  coming  of  the  first  missionary.  Dr.  Underwood  was 
called  upon  to  make  an  address  and  was  followed  by 
Dr.  Clark,  and  Rev.  InoguchI,  of  the  Japanese  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  F^ief  remarks  were  also  made  by  guests, 
one  of  whom  was  Dr.  Underwoods  old  friend,  Kim  Yun 


Mr.  Yi  Sang  Chai 


1914-1915  311 

Sik,  a  former  Cabinet  officer.  Several  former  Cabinet 
members  and  Korean  Nobles  of  the  highest  rank,  and 
many  old  friends  were  there  to  offer  their  hearty  con- 
gratulations, with  many  members  of  the  various  congre- 
gations, nearly  all  of  the  oldest  of  whom  had  been  bap- 
tised by  him  or  had  been  members  of  his  church,  which 
was  for  some  time  the  only  one  in  Seoul.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  it  was  very  gratifying  and  comforting  to  re- 
ceive this  added  evidence  of  the  esteem  and  grateful 
regard  of  these  dear  people. 

In  the  report  of  Mr.  Brockman  on  the  first  *triennial 
convention  of  the  Korean  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  the  spring 
of  1914,  we  learn  that  it  was  held  in  Songdo  and  was 
attended  by  Dr.  Ibuka,  chairman  of  the  Japanese  Na- 
tional Committee  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.s,  also  by  representa- 
tives from  Canada,  the  United  States,  China,  and,  of 
course,  Korea.  Dr.  Underwood  was  Chairman  of  this 
convention.  Addresses  were  made  by  Mr.  Phelps  of 
Japan,  Mr.  Yi  Sang  Chai,  Dr.  Underwood  and  others. 
Mr.  Brockman  says:  'There  followed  a  most  statesman- 
like consideration  of  the  constitution,  and  the  admirable 
way  in  which  these  delicate  questions  were  treated 
brought  forth  warmest  commendation  from  visitors.  At 
this  time  the  Union  Committee  of  fifteen  referred  to 
before  were  elected:  Dr.  Underwood,  Dr.  Avison,  Mr. 
Cram,  Mr.  Hong  Chang  Suk,  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  Dr. 
J.  S.  Gale,  Mr.  Kim  Chong  Sik,  Dr.  H.  H.  Weir,  Rev. 
D.  M.  Lyal,  Mr.  Yi  Sang  Chai,  Mr.  Hugh  H.  Cynn, 
Dr.  O.  Kung  San,  Mr.  O  Nei  Soon,  Mr.  Song  Un  Yong, 

*  This  triennial  convention  was  the  one  referred  to  in  the 
statement  made  above  on  the  changes  brought  about  in  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A. 


312        H  Underwood  of  Korea 

Mr.  Pak  Sung  Pong.  In  April,  Dr.  Underwood  was 
re-elected  Chairman  of  the  above  Committee,  Mr.  Hong 
Chang  Suk  and  Rev.  M.  G.  Cram  recording  secretaries, 
Mr.  Hugh  Miller  treasurer,  and  Mr.  F.  W.  Brockman 
executive  secretary.  The  accomplishment  of  the  election 
of  this  Committee  of  Fifteen,  at  a  time  when  the  young 
men  were  inclined  to  be  suspicious  that  the  society  was 
to  be  handed  over  entirely  to  the  control  of  Japanese 
Government  was  a  great  triumph  and  a  great  blessing. 

In  the  early  part  of  1914  Dr.  Underwood  made  a 
series  of  visits  to  a  number  of  church  centers  of  large 
country  towns  to  conduct  evangelistic  services,  especially 
to  awaken  and  bring  in  unbelievers,  although  his  itiner- 
ating of  late  years  usually  had  been  to  the  churches  to 
strengthen  and  shepherd  the  flock.  He  was  accompanied 
by  a  Korean  Evangelist,  Rev.  Han  Suk  Jin,  with  helper 
Kim,  two  cornetists  and  a  lantern  expert,  with  pictures  of 
the  life  of  Christ,  and  a  good  acetylene  outfit  loaned  by 
Dr.  Clark.  On  entering  a  place  he  would  erect  a  tent,  hav- 
ing had  notices  previously  posted,  and  with  singing  and 
the  pictures  would  collect  a  large  crowd,  and  give  stirring 
Gospel  addresses.  Thousands  of  gospels  and  tracts 
were  freely  distributed,  and  all  who  were  interested  were 
followed  up.  In  Chungju  territory  five  places  were 
visited.  In  spite  of  his  lame  knee,  he  was  sometimes 
forced  to  walk  ten  or  fifteen  miles  where  coolies  could 
not  be  obtained.  In  Chungju  over  two  or  three  thou- 
sand people  assembled  in  an  outdoor  meeting.  It  is  not 
easy  in  these  heathen  communities  to  tabulate  results  at 
once,  but  many  heard  for  the  first  time  words  which  sink 
like  good  seed  in  the  ground  and  bring  forth  their  fruit 
here  and  there  in  after  days.     Mrs.  Cook  of  Chungju 


1914-1915  313 

wrote  that  "the  personality  and  reputation  of  the  great 
pioneer  missionary  were  the  greatest  attraction  to  the 
Koreans  in  these  meetings,"  and  the  influence  of  his  Ufe 
and  character  was  always  and  everywhere  effective. 

He  longed  to  win  souls,  but  his  faith  made  him  rest 
confident  that  if  the  Gospel  were  faithfully  preached,  God 
would  bring  the  harvest  in  His  own  good  time. 

In  1914  we  celebrated  our  Silver  Wedding.  We  had 
simply  intended  to  invite  our  friends  in  for  an  after- 
noon tea,  not  announcing  the  occasion,  but  Koreans  dis- 
covered, perhaps  from  helpers  in  his  office,  what  day 
it  was.  Some  other  old  friends  counted  up  and  also 
discovered,  and  so  there  was  a  meeting  in  the  morning 
of  Koreans,  with  prayers,  hymns,  speeches  and  a  silver 
gift  (for  they  love  to  give,  no  matter  how  little  they 
have),  and  in  the  afternoon  there  was  a  crowded  as- 
semblage of  several  hundred  foreigners,  a  large  number 
of  Japanese,  and  also  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
and  oldest  of  our  Korean  friends.  The  boys  of  the 
Academy  came  and  saluted  in  the  garden,  and  Dr. 
Underwood  and  I  responded  to  their  congratulations. 
The  house  was  decked  with  flowers,  many  silver  gifts 
were  presented,  and  a  "wedding  ceremony"  took  place. 
The  heads  of  the  Japanese  Government  evinced  their 
good  will  by  uniting  in  presenting  us  with  a  pair  of  beauti- 
ful sterling  silver  vases,  a  courtesy  which  showed  the 
great  change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  attitude  of  the 
Government  toward  him  within  a  few  years.  While  lov- 
ing and  serving  the  Koreans  he  at  the  same  time  won  the 
friendship  and  confidence  of  the  Japanese.  His  won- 
derful magnetism  and  power  of  winning  people  of  all 
nationalities,  ranks,  and  classes  was  never  more  strikingly 


314  Underwood  of  Korea 

illustrated  than  in  the  way  in  which  both  Japanese  and 
Koreans,  who  came  in  touch  with  him,  loved  and  trusted, 
and  leaned  upon  him. 

The  Korean  General  Assembly  in  1914  numbered 
thirty-six  pastors,  thirty-nine  elders  and  fifty-three  for- 
eigners. They  would  have  again  elected  Dr.  Underwood 
Moderator  had  he  not  positively  refused  to  serve.  One 
significant  feature  in  connection  with  those  meetings  was 
the  way  in  which  the  Koreans  demonstrated  their  feeling 
toward  the  missionaries.  The  latter  proposed  that  as  the 
assembly  was  a  delegated  body  of  Koreans,  so  the  mis- 
sionaries too  should  only  be  represented  by  delegates, 
and  they  brought  in  a  resolution  to  this  effect  limiting 
their  number,  but  this  resolution  was  at  once  laid  on  the 
table  by  the  Korean  members  of  the  Assembly.  In 
comparison  with  the  independent  and  hands-off  atti- 
tude seen  in  some  other  fields  this  was  very  marked  and 
characteristic  of  the  Korean  Church.  From  the  begin- 
ning there  was  the  closest  and  most  confidential  relation 
between  the  Koreans  and  their  foreign  pastors  and  teach- 
ers. In  Dr.  Underwood's  conduct  of  affairs  in  his  Ses- 
sion and  with  his  church  this  was  repeatedly  illustrated. 
Now  and  again  some  problem  would  come  up,  on  which 
there  was  divided  opinion.  Some  erratic  person  would  ad- 
vocate some  mistaken  policy  or  oppose  the  right  one,  and 
even  one  of  his  most  useful  men  may  have  been  ex- 
tremely obstinate  and  unwilling  to  yield,  but  Dr.  Under- 
wood never  forced  any  issue,  he  never  showed  any  impa- 
tience or  personal  feeling;  gently,  quietly  he  led  them 
along,  deferring  with  friendly  courtesy  to  their  views, 
until  gradually,  one  hardly  knew  how,  the  clouds  passed, 
the  sky  cleared,  and  all  were  pleased ;  with  a  trifling  con- 


1914-1915  315 

cession  here,  a  compromise  of  slight  importance  there, 
he  won  his  way  almost  invariably.  I  have  seen  this 
occur  repeatedly  in  his  dealings  with  the  country 
churches,  and  with  those  who  had  quarreled.  His 
fatherly  tenderness  to  all,  his  feeling  for  each  man  in 
view  made  each  feel  that  the  pastor  was  his  own  especial 
friend. 

The  Korean  pastors  supported  by  the  native  church 
number  one  hundred  and  forty-five,  and  this  church  pays 
almost  all  the  salaries  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
helpers  as  well.  Then  there  are  the  unpaid  workers  and 
church  officers,  of  whom  there  are  over  eight  thousand 
in  our  mission  alone,  and  an  unusual  amount  of  time  is 
given  by  the  rank  and  file  throughout  the  year.  Those 
baptised  in  19 14  numbered  seven  thousand  two  hundred 
and  seventy-four,  the  total  membership  being  fifty-five 
thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  while  the  whole 
number  of  adherents  numbered  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand.  They  met  in  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-seven  groups  and  churches,  from  tiny 
village  meeting  houses  to  city  churches  with  congrega- 
tions of  fifteen  hundred.  One  thousand  six  hundred 
and  seventy-five  of  these  groups  own  their  buildings. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-three  are  regularly  organized 
with  Sessions.  The  contributions  totaled  that  year 
$96,000.00,  or  more  than  fifty  sen  for  each  adherent 
with  an  ordinary  wage  rate  of  forty  sen,  or  about  twenty 
cents  a  day.* 

From  the  latter  part  of  191 3  Dr.  Underwood  had 
been  growing  slowly  but  increasingly  ill  and  weak.     Dr. 

*  Statistics  quoted  from  the  Rev.  Wade  Koon's  report  to  the 
Mission. 


316  Underwood  of  Korea 

Avison  had  told  him  in  1913  that  if  he  did  not  lay  down 
his  work  and  take  a  trip  abroad  where  he  could  come 
under  constant  expert  care,  with  the  benefit  that  complete 
rest  and  a  sea  trip  might  bring,  he  would  not  answer 
for  the  consequences,  but  he  only  shook  his  head  and 
said  that  the  College  and  Bible  Institute  affairs  could  not 
be  dropped  at  that  juncture  no  matter  what  happened. 
Though  he  himself  realized  the  very  serious  condition 
of  his  health  he  could  not  see  his  way  to  leave  then, 
so  he  continued  to  struggle  along  under  weakness  to  which 
most  people  would  have  yielded,  when  exhaustion  brought 
him  almost  to  the  point  of  fainting  every  day,  and  when 
he  was  often  too  weak  and  worn  out  to  take  even  a  light 
repast  until  he  had  been  braced  up  with  a  cup  of  tea 
or  coffee.  Day  after  day,  there  were  long  committee 
meetings,  often  until  late  at  night;  early,  even  in  the 
darkness  and  chill  of  severe  winter  mornings,  he  was  up 
attending  to  his  correspondence  or  literary  work.  Back 
and  forth  the  little  pony  plodded  all  day  long,  carrying 
him  to  School,  College,  Bible  Institute,  Church  or  Bible 
Class,  while  week-ends  found  him  in  the  country  among 
his  little  churches. 

For  two  years  he  continually  worked  to  accomplish 
the  union  of  the  Primary  Day  Schools  of  our  different 
Missions  in  Seoul,  to  save  expense  and  time.  The  dif- 
ferent Missions  and  natives  too  had  troubles  to  over- 
come, jealousies  between  native  teachers,  and  difficulty 
as  to  location,  but  in  the  end  his  efforts  were  blessed 
with  success,  so  far  as  three  of  these  Schools,  his  own 
and  those  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  Methodist  Mis- 
sions in  that  part  of  the  city,  were  concerned. 

The  Japanese  Government  had  established  a  number 


1914-1915  317 

of  non-religious  schools,  and  at  that  time  he  had  made 
an  effort  to  reach  them  in  a  series  of  specially  arranged 
Sunday  evening  church  services,  with  attractive  features, 
such  as  lantern  shows  of  Christian  subjects,  or  music, 
or  lectures  on  interesting  themes  by  well  known  men. 
Each  service  had  some  novel  and  attractive  feature,  and 
as  a  special  favor  tickets  of  admission  were  sent  to  one 
school  or  another.  This  plan  worked  to  perfection,  the 
boys  came  in  crowds  and  felt  honored  to  receive  tickets. 

At  the  same  time  also  he  had  been  entertaining  one 
class  or  another  from  the  Boys'  Academy  every  fortnight 
at  his  home  with  music,  games,  exhibitions  with  the 
microscope,  and,  of  course,  refreshments,  but  always 
a  Bible  chapter  read,  a  few  stirring  hymns  sung,  a  prayer 
and  a  short  helpful  talk  by  a  pastor  or  the  principal  of 
the  school,  or  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  worker  emphasized  the 
religious  aim  of  the  host. 

From  1914  he  had  been  paying  the  salary  of  a  young 
missionary  of  rarely  beautiful  character,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Chaffin,  who  seconded  him  in  his  evangelistic  work  in 
the  city  and  country  and  helped  out  with  his  heavy  cor- 
respondence. This  man  was  much  loved  by  the  Koreans 
and  was  a  great  help  in  the  church  work,  but  his  health 
was  very  delicate  and  he  passed  on  to  the  Better  Land  in 
191 6,  a  month  or  two  before  his  leader.  All  this  time 
without  cessation  he  was  steadily  working  for  the  College, 
with  Boards,  Missions  and  Government,  meeting  one 
difficulty  and  hindrance  after  another  with  the  same 
patience,  courage,  and  cheerfulness  he  had  shown  in  the 
days  of  his  greater  physical  strength,  while  all  the  time 
his  increasing  pallor  and  extreme  emaciation  caused  the 
gravest  apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  his  friends.     I 


318  Underwood  of  Korea 

believe  it  has  been  noted  that  he  had  been  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  College,  which  had  rented  recitation  rooms 
and  dormitories  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  where 
regular  college  work  was  going  on,  under  difficulties,  but 
with  fair  success. 

In  191 3  he  invited  a  number  of  the  friends  of  the 
College  to  his  home  for  an  evening  reception  and  cele- 
brated the  first  year  of  its  life.  Even  yet  all  was  not 
secure  in  most  men's  eyes,  but  to  his  faith  and  trust 
it  was  as  sure  as  it  is  to-day. 

At  the  same  time  teaching  was  being  carried  on  for 
the  Pierson  Memorial  Bible  Institute,  a  fine  site  had  been 
secured  and  the  foundation  of  the  building  had  been  put 
in,  so  that  when  Dr.  Speer  came  in  the  late  summer  he 
was  able  to  attend  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner 
stone. 

Dr.  Underwood  had,  with  the  consent  and  advice  of 
the  other  missionaries  on  the  committee,  arranged  the 
contracts  with  the  builders  and  planned  for  the  equipment 
of  this  building. 

The  summer  of  191 5  was  spent  at  Sorai  Beach,  where 
quite  a  number  of  missionaries  had  by  this  time  erected 
summer  cottages.  Much  against  the  wishes  of  his  fam- 
ily, he  had  consented  to  work  on  the  final  revision  of  one 
of  the  Old  Testament  books  with  Dr.  Reynolds,  during 
those  weeks  when  his  condition  demanded  a  time  of  com- 
plete relaxation  and  rest.  The  nervous  strain  and  intense 
concentration  needed  for  Bible  translation  were  the  very 
things  he  should  have  avoided.  Naturally  the  summer 
here,  which  had  in  previous  years  brought  great  im- 
provement to  his  weary  frame,  saw  no  change  for  the 
better. 


1914-1915  319 

Every  morning,  very  early,  soon  after  daybreak,  he 
drove  down  the  length  of  the  point  in  his  absurd  little 
lumbering  home  made  cart,  and  even  before  he  started, 
the  children  nearest  his  home  were  waiting  to  pile  in. 
As  they  rattled  along,  more  joined  at  almost  every  house 
until  the  vehicle  was  full  of  a  laughing  bunch  of  little 
ones,  not  one  of  whom  would  have  missed  the  jolting  ride 
with  dear  "Grandpa  Under"  for  all  the  other  pleasures 
the  day  could  offer.  As  has  been  said,  he  delighted  in 
children,  and  was  never  more  happy  than  when  with 
them,  while  all  children  seemed  naturally  to  love  and 
trust  him.  It  was  one  of  the  sweet  rewards  of  his  life, 
that  he  was  allowed  to  see  so  many  children  enjoying 
the  sands  and  invigorating  air  of  Sorai  that  last  summer. 

He  had,  however,  to  leave  for  a  short  visit  to  Japan 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Convention  at  Gotemba. 
He  met  with  a  terrible  storm  while  on  the  tiny  steamer, 
sailing  to  the  port,  and  as  the  season  was  the  hardest 
in  the  year  for  travel,  he  had  a  very  difficult  trip,  but 
his  only  references  to  it  were  jokes  at  his  own  expense. 
In  all  his  weariness  and  haste,  in  the  midst  of  important 
business,  he  found  time  to  stop  over  at  Nagoyo  to  buy 
a  little  Japanese  dog  for  his  wife.  This  is  a  good  illus- 
tration of  his  whole  life,  never  too  busy  or  too  weighed 
down  by  matters  of  the  greatest  importance,  to  neglect 
the  multitude  of  thoughtful,  gracious,  tender  Httle  deeds 
of  love  for  his  family,  for  little  children,  for  any  one, 
in  fact,  on  whom  he  could  bestow  them.  His  relations 
with  his  family  were  quite  too  beautiful  and  sacred  to 
be  put  into  print;  suffice  it  to  say  that  his  son  and  he 
were  like  brothers;  he  had  never  spoken  a  harsh  word 
to  the  boy  in  his  life,  but  their  friendship  became  more 


320  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  more  intimate  and  mutually  helpful  as  time  went 

on,  and  the  son  has  since  remarked  that  he  would  not 

have  missed  those  last  years  with  his  father  for  all  the 

post-graduate  or  seminary  courses  the  world  could  offer. 

At  the  end  of  the  summer  of  191 5  Dr.  Speer  and  his 

party  came  to  visit  the  mission,  and  as  he  was  our  guest, 

Dr.  Underwood  attended  all  his  movements  and  took  him 

to  the  annual  meeting.    Here  the  feeling  was  still  strong 

against  the  College  and  a  motion  was  passed  to  ask  the 

Board   to   arrange    for   the   carrying   on   of   the    Seoul 

Union  Christian  College  independently  of  the  Mission, 

the  statement  being  that  they  objected  to  participation 

in  the  institution  because  of  the  inability  to  exercise  field 

control,  and  the  disapproval  of  the  standards  proposed 

for  the  school  in  the  constitution  as  they  understood  it. 

Just  before  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Speer  and  the  meeting 
of  the  Federal  Council  that  fall,  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment published  a  long  set  of  regulations  about  religious 
work,  calling  for  very  particular  and  minute  reports 
as  to  the  history  and  qualifications  of  all  paid  religious 
workers,  whether  missionaries  or  native  evangelists,  and 
as  to  locality,  time  of  establishment  and  character  of  all 
places  of  worship  called  churches,  which  expected  to  be 
free  from  taxation.  At  the  same  time  rules  which  had  been 
in  force  for  years  in  Japan,  but  new  to  us  in  our  work 
in  Korea,  were  promulgated  regarding  the  holding  of 
religious  services  or  teaching  religion  in  mission  schools. 
The  Government  affirmed  its  right  to  close  any  churches 
or  remove  any  leaders  or  workers  that  it  considered  to  be 
for  any  reason,  religious  or  political,  unfit.  These  laws 
gave  the  Missions  the  greatest  alarm  and  concern  for  a 


[1914-1915  321 

time.  It  seemed  as  though  they  might  strike  a  death  blow 
to  all  our  evangelistic  and  educational  work. 

At  the  Federal  Council  the  excitement  was  extreme, 
and  many  hasty  speeches  were  made,  which  spread  the 
fears  of  the  missionaries.  At  length  the  sane  suggestion 
was  made  that  a  committee  go  to  the  Government  offices 
and  inquire  the  exact  meaning  and  intention  of  these 
rules.  Dr.  Underwood  and  Mr.  Robb  were  appointed 
and  they  had  a  very  satisfactory  interview,  at  which  it 
was  made  clear  to  them  that  there  was  no  intention  of 
hindering  the  evangelistic  work,  but  that  the  Govern- 
ment only  desired  to  obtain  correct  reports  of  all  regular 
work,  for  the  sake  of  those  claiming  freedom  from  taxa- 
tion, and  for  adequate  information  to  prevent  the  estab- 
lishment of  harmful  sects.  This  information  brought 
great  relief  to  the  minds  of  the  missionaries;  neverthe- 
less the  reports  were  called  for,  and  it  was  very  neces- 
sary to  hand  them  in  before  a  certain  date;  they  were 
very  voluminous  and  demanded  a  multitude  of  minute 
particulars,  all  filling  out  Government  Chinese  forms  in 
a  certain  way,  and  to  be  written  in  mixed  script.  As  the 
Chairman  of  the  Information  Bureau,  Dr.  Underwood 
received  dozens  of  letters,  and  sent  out  explanations  and 
specimen  blanks  to  every  Presbyterian  Missionary  in 
Korea,  with  careful  explanations.  No  one  had  the  least 
idea  of  the  amount  of  work,  time  and  energy  involved. 
In  his  report  he  simply  mentions  that  blanks  and  forms 
had  been  sent. 

An  Industrial  Exhibition  was  organized  by  the  Gov- 
ernment in  September,  1915,  to  celebrate  the  five  years 
of  annexation  and  demonstrate  what  the  Government  had 
done  in  Korea  in  constructing  roads  and  in  improved 


322  Underwood  of  Korea 

industrial  and  agricultural  methods.  Large  crowds  came 
from  all  over  the  country,  brought  partly  through  the 
widespread  advertisements  and  partly  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Government. 

Dr.  Hardie  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Mission  writes : 
"The  Union  Evangelistic  Campaign  conducted  in  con- 
nection with  this  (Exhibition)  was  initiated  mostly 
through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Underwood,  who  brought  the 
matter  to  the  attenton  of  the  missionaries  in  Seoul.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  which  had  the  matter  in 
charge,  and  it  was  through  his  efforts  that  it  was  so 
successfully  arranged  for." 

*He  it  was  who  by  his  letters  and  addresses  brought 
the  open-handed  Missionaries  to  contribute  so  gener- 
ously toward  the  expenses  of  the  work,  and  he  it  was 
who  succeeded  in  winning  from  the  Government,  which 
had  been  supposed  to  be  anti-Christian,  permission  to 
place  their  building  on  one  of  the  very  best  sites  near 
the  entrance  gate  of  the  main  exhibition. 

Korean  and  Japanese  churches  in  all  parts  of  Korea 
subscribed  three  hundred  dollars  toward  the  expenses, 
three  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  came  from  America, 
while  the  missionaries  gave  seven  hundred  dollars.  This 
enabled  them  to  put  up  a  temporary  building  to  accom- 
modate one  thousand  people  in  three  halls.  In  the  center 
hall  cinematograph  pictures  of  Bible  scenes  were  shown 
daily.  Twenty-one  thousand  people  attended  during  the 
period  of  the  exhibition.  This  room  was  flanked  on  one 
side  by  a  hall  in  which  services  were  held  in  the  Japanese 
language,  and  on  the  other  side  by  one  for  services  in 

♦  Most  of  these  details  were  written  by  Mr.  Bennick  for  the 
"Korean  Field." 


1914-1915  323 

the  Korean  language.  At  the  back  were  inquiry  rooms, 
while  in  front  of  the  building  there  were  book-stalls 
occupied  by  the  Tract  Society  and  Bible  Societies.  Inter- 
national flags  and  Scripture  verses  in  four  languages 
were  used  to  decorate  the  exterior. 

In  the  hall  for  Koreans  preaching  services  were  held 
throughout  the  day,  except  at  the  hour  when  the  pictures 
were  being  shown.  The  churches  in  Seoul  and  vicinity 
supplied  workers  and  preachers,  each  denomination  being 
responsible  for  the  work  on  certain  days.  And  it  is  to 
be  noted  that  none  of  the  churches  failed  to  keep  their 
assignments.  Many  thousands  of  tracts  were  distributed 
and  workers  met  the  passers-by,  giving  them  personal  in- 
vitations to  the  services.  Japanese  services  were  con- 
ducted by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kimura,  the  Billy  Sunday  of 
Japan,  who  came  to  Korea  for  this  special  work.  At- 
tendance for  the  three  weeks  during  which  the  services 
were  held  was  approximately  100,000.  The  workers  had 
personal  conferences  with  11,627  inquirers,  whose  names 
were  registered  and  sent  to  pastors  of  the  churches  near- 
est to  their  homes.  One  of  the  leaders  of  the  work  said : 
"It  was  the  greatest  hand-to-hand  evangelistic  opportunity 
I  have  seen  for  years.  In  spite  of  the  confusion  and  the 
crowds,  man  after  man  of  those  with  whom  I  talked 
came  at  once  to  the  most  earnest  consideration  of  the 
religious  message.  Two  of  the  men  I  talked  with 
went  home  to  estabhsh  churches  in  their  own  neigh- 
borhoods. A  great  impression  was  made  on  the  country 
people  by  the  evidently  friendly  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  permitted  missionaries  and  native  Christians 
to  preach  the  gospel  freely  in  one  of  the  best  locations 
in  the  city." 


324  Underwood  of  Korea 

In  a  letter  written  at  that  time  Dr.  Underwood  said: 
"We  had  a  young  missionary  from  China,  a  Scotch- 
Irishman,  who  was  intensely  interested  in  the  work.  He 
said  he  could  not  tear  himself  away  from  the  preaching 
hall  because  he  wanted  to  watch  the  zeal  and  earnestness 
with  which  the  Koreans  tried  to  interest  others  in  the 
Gospel.  He  said  that  such  a  series  of  meetings  as  those 
would  be  impossible  in  China,  that  no  Chinamen  would 
go  out  and  do  such  work,  and,  in  fact,  he  thought  that 
in  no  place  outside  of  Korea  could  one  find  so  great  a 
band  of  volunteers  willing  to  carry  on  the  work,  all  day 
long  and  every  day  for  so  long  a  time. 

During  this  Exhibition  and  Evangelistic  Campaign,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Underwood  and  through  the  efforts 
of  Mr.  Koons,  who  did  a  large  share  of  the  necessary 
guidance  of  the  party,  the  missionaries'  children  in  the 
boarding  school  in  Pyeng  Yang  were  invited  to  come  to 
Seoul  and  see  the  sights,  and  while  here  they  were 
invited  to  Mr.  Hugh  Miller's  house,  where  a  feast  was 
arranged  for  them,  and  they  were  also  at  our  home  for 
a  garden  party.  It  is  not  an  important  fact  in  his  life, 
though  I  cannot  omit  mentioning  it,  as  it  was  his  last 
good  time  with  children,  joining  in  their  games  as  though 
he  had  been  a  well  man,  and  evidently  as  happy  as  the 
youngest  there.  A  photograph  of  the  group  was  taken 
ere  they  separated,  the  man  with  the  spirit  and  simple, 
gentle  heart  of  a  little  child  among  the  children.  That 
year,  too,  he  kept  Christmas  with  his  old  friends  around 
him,  for  the  last  time.  His  home,  beautiful  with  ever- 
green, mistletoe,  and  holly,  his  table  loaded  with  Christ- 
mas decorations  and  dainties,  one  of  which,  an  ice  cream 
watermelon,  quite  his  own  idea,  had  been  made  under  his 


1914-1915  325 

supervision  with  such  crude  utensils  and  aids  as  are  to 
be  had  in  an  Oriental  city.  He  was  childishly  pleased 
with  the  success  of  this  dish,  and  the  surprise  of  the 
housekeepers  in  the  party  who  had  not  thought  such 
could  possibly  be  made  in  Korea.  With  gifts  and  games, 
and  last  of  all  with  song  and  prayer,  the  evening  quickly 
passed,  and  the  guests  dispersed,  some  of  them  weeping 
with  the  sad  premonition  that  this  was  the  last  Christmas 
he  would  be  with  them  in  his  home. 

While  the  Exhibition  was  on,  a  Japanese  Prince  and 
Princess  came  to  visit  Korea  to  see  what  the  Govern- 
ment had  accomplished.  There  were  receptions  and  din- 
ners, torch  light  processions,  luncheons,  addresses,  and 
many  other  functions,  and  to  most  of  these  Dr.  Un- 
derwood was  invited  as  one  of  the  older  missionaries. 
Going  to  one  of  these  receptions  at  a  distance,  in  the 
fine  new  carriage,  with  its  liveried  footmen  and  well 
groomed,  blooded  horses,  placed  at  his  disposal  by  a 
Korean  nobleman,  he  and  his  wife  were  greatly  amused 
to  see  that  the  police  mistook  them  for  the  princely  guests, 
drove  people  off  the  streets  before  them,  and  ordered 
all  upper  windows  closed  in  advance,  as  they  had  been 
ordered  to  do  for  the  Prince.  Dr.  Underwood  was,  of 
course,  much  entertained  by  the  humor  of  the  situation, 
and  the  amazement  of  the  official  dignitaries,  jolting  along 
in  humble  jinrickshas,  who  saw  the  mere  missionary 
sweeping  by  in  such  magnificent  style,  could  not  have 
been  excelled  by  that  of  Cinderella's  stepmother. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
"HOME  AFTER  WANDERING'* 

ON  the  2d  or  3d  of  January,  Dr.  Underwood 
started  for  Japan  to  study  Japanese  in  the 
language  school  in  Tokyo.  He  felt  that  if  he 
was  to  do  college  teaching  under  Government  rules  he 
must  know  Japanese,  which  he  could  get  no  chance  to 
learn  while  attending  to  his  innumerable  duties  and  suf- 
fering so  many  interruptions  as  were  inevitable  in  Korea. 
He  felt,  too,  that  perhaps  even  such  a  change  of  work 
as  this  would  be,  with  change  of  climate,  might  restore 
his  health,  and  so  do  away  with  the  need  to  go  so  far 
from  Korea  as  Europe  or  America.  Much  might  be 
done  for  Korea  too  while  there,  so  as  the  writer  was  too 
ill  to  go  with  him  at  first,  he  went  away  alone,  to  be 
joined  by  her  a  few  weeks  later. 

There  he  worked  nine  hours  a  day  at  the  language, 
employing  two  teachers,  as  well  as  spending  the  regular 
time,  three  or  four  hours  a  day,  at  the  school.  He  made 
addresses  to  new  missionaries,  on  missionary  methods 
and  results  in  Korea,  looked  after  the  interests  of  the 
Korean  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  church  in  Tokyo,  and  won  the 
warm  friendship  of  many  leaders  of  the  Japanese  church 
and  Y.  M.  C.  A.    He  had  an  intimate  conference  with  the 

326 


"Home  After  Wandering"  327 

Japanese  Premier,  who  received  him  with  great  courtesy, 
and  talked  with  him  freely  with  Bishop  Harris  as  inter- 
preter, bidding  him  come  informally  at  any  time  he 
wished  to  consult  him.  The  following  letter  from  Mr. 
Bowles  of  Tokyo  will  show  something  of  the  work  Dr. 
Underwood  was  doing  there: 

Dear  Dr.  Underwood: 

I  understand  from  Mrs.  Underwood  that  you  would  be 
able  to  meet  the  group  of  Japanese  gathering  for  a  study 
meeting,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Japanese  Peace  Society, 
on  Tuesday  evening.  I  also  understand  that  you  cannot 
get  there  until  about  8  p.m. 

Baron  Shibisawa  has  sent  special  word  requesting  that 
the  evening  be  given  to  the  Korean-Japanese  question,  hop- 
ing to  hear  fully  from  you.  The  dinner  and  conference 
following  will  be  at  the  Chustei  Restaurant,  the  same  place 
where  the  joint  dinner  for  Dr.  Clark  was  given.  I  hope 
you  will  come  as  early  as  possible,  for  I  believe  the  occasion 
of  Baron  Shibisawa's  request  means  a  special  opportunity. 
Yours  sincerely, 

Gilbert  M.  Bowles. 

This  was  only  one  of  many  church  and  peace  confer- 
ences, and  on  one  occasion  he  made  the  first  few  sen- 
tences of  his  speech  in  Japanese,  to  the  great  delight 
and  surprise  of  the  audience.  He  was  said  by  his 
teachers  to  be  making  phenomenal  progress  in  the  lan- 
guage. When  his  wife  arrived,  she  found  that  he  had 
been  taking  his  books  to  bed  and  studying  himself  to 
sleep.  She  was  horrified  to  find  that  instead  of  improv- 
ing, he  was  weaker  and  more  ill  than  ever,  while  the 
inroads  made  on  his  vitality  by  the  work  with  which  he 


328  Underwood  of  Korea 

pitilessly  saddled  himself,  were  becoming  more  and  more 
evident.  How,  in  his  condition,  he  found  strength  to 
work  is  a  problem  that  has  never  been  solved. 

Dr.  Underwood  had  hardly  reached  Japan  before  he 
wrote  me  a  letter  saying  that  the  little  son  of  one  of  the 
missionaries  was  very  feeble  and  ill  after  an  operation, 
asking  me  to  send  some  Korean  post  cards  to  amuse  him. 
A  few  days  later  he  mentioned  in  one  of  his  letters  that 
he  had  learned  that  the  second  birthday  of  the  little 
daughter  of  one  of  our  Seoul  friends  was  on  such  a  date, 
suggesting  that  I  might  enjoy  remembering  the  day  with 
some  little  gift.  It  was  only  a  trifle,  but  that  a  man  so 
ill,  carrying  on  a  desperate  struggle  for  his  life,  and 
with  so  many  great  interests  near  and  dear  to  his  heart 
to  claim  his  thoughts,  should  remember  such  things  as 
these,  is  worth  noting. 

Rev.  Frank  Muller  of  the  Language  School  was  his 
kindest  and  best  friend  in  Tokyo.  He  and  his  wife  were 
often  with  us  during  those  sad  and  strenuous  days,  and 
strange  it  seems  that  he  followed  Dr.  Underwood  to  the 
Heavenly  Home  after  a  brief  period  of  only  four  or  five 
months. 

Dr.  Underwood  grew  so  much  worse  that,  while  still 
in  Tokyo,  his  wife  wrote  to  America  making  arrange- 
ments for  their  return  thither  in  the  early  spring.  She 
begged  him  with  tears  to  give  up  his  study  and  return 
to  Korea  to  prepare  for  the  trip  abroad  before  he  became 
too  ill  to  travel ;  he,  believing  that  a  wife's  anxiety  exag- 
gerated the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  would  not  leave 
until  the  term  was  ended.  He  was  indeed  very  ill  when 
finally,  in  March,  we  returned  to  Korea.     His  friends 


"  Home  After  Wandering  "  329 

were  shocked  at  the  change  that  had  come.  Steps  were 
taken  at  once  to  place  his  work  in  other  hands,  and,  so 
far  as  possible  to  bring  to  completion  the  plans  he  had 
been  carrying  through  for  the  College  and  Bible  Institute. 
Prone  upon  a  lounge,  he  held  long  conferences  with 
one  important  committee  after  another,  planning  for  the 
work  in  his  absence.  Scarcely  able  to  stand,  he  rode 
over  to  the  Residency  with  Dr.  Avison,  and  had  a  long 
conference  with  the  officials  about  the  College  Charter, 
with  the  result  that  through  the  good  understanding 
established  they  obtained  a  charter  which,  while  in  accord 
with  the  terms  of  the  Educational  Ordinance  of  the  Gov- 
ernment General,  safeguards  in  various  ways  the  essen- 
tially Christian  character  of  the  institution.  Readers  in- 
terested in  the  detailed  provisions  of  the  charter  may 
obtain  a  copy  of  the  document  by  writing  the  Dean  of 
the  College. 

TRANSLATION  OF  PERMIT  FOR  COLLEGE 

Educational  Bureau, 
Official  No.  312. 

Dr.  O.  R.  Avison  and  11  other  Directors  of  The  Christian 

Union    Zaidan    Hojin    of    the    Yen    Heui    Chun-moon 

Hak-kyo  (En  Ki  Sem  Mon  Gakko)  Seoul,  Province  of 

Kyeng-kui. 

This  is  to  give  permission  for  the  Establishment  of  the 

Yen  Heui  Chun-moon  Hak-kyo   (En  Ki  Sem  Mon  Gakko) 

in  compliance  with  your  application  of  March  27th,  6th  year 

of  Taichung  (Taisho)    (1917). 

Count  G.  Hasegawa,  (Official  Seal) 

Governor  General  of  Chosen, 
(Sixth  year  of  Taisho),  April  7th. 
Taichung  (1917). 


330  Underwood  of  Korea 

TRANSLATION  OF  PERMIT  FOR  THE  BOARD  OF 
MANAGERS  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

Educational  Bureau, 
Official  No.  312. 
Dr.  O.  R.  Avison, 

Seoul, 

Province  of  Kyeng-kui. 

This  is  to  give  permission  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Christian  Union  Zaidan  Hojin  of  the  Yen  Heui  Chun-moon 
Hak-kyo  (En  Ki  Sem  Mon  Gakko)  in  compliance  with  your 
application  of  March  7th,  6th  year  of  Taichung  (Taisho) 
(1917). 

All  the  Japanese  heads  of  Departments  shov^red  a  sin- 
cere concern  about  Dr.  Underwood's  illness.  The 
Governor  General  sent  a  special  messenger  v^ith  a  letter 
of  farewell.  A  beautiful  silver  vase  was  brought  as  a 
token  of  the  sympathy  and  regard  of  the  highest  officials. 
Korean  and  foreign  friends  flocked  about  him  vying 
with  each  other  in  expressions  of  affection  and  anxiety, 
and  eager  to  do  anything  to  help  or  serve  him.  The 
day  he  left  the  well-loved  land  where  he  had  arrived 
in  the  same  month,  almost  the  same  day,  thirty-one  years 
before,  the  station  and  street  outside  were  crowded  with 
friends  who  came  to  bid  him  farewell,  and  all  the  heads 
of  departments  were  there  in  full  regalia  as  well  as  those 
with  whom  he  had  lived  in  more  intimate  relations.  So 
he  left  his  dear  Korea  to  which  he  was  not  to  return  in 
the  flesh. 

The  world  is  full  of  kind  hearts  and  all  along  our 
sad  journey,  both  of  us  feeble  and  ill,  kindnesses  were 
showered  upon  us  by  travelers,  officials,  attendants  and 
business   people.     The   goodness   and  love   in   people's 


i-H       ^^l   \  S 


^^MM^XK 


? 


-v^^  K  ^  ^  "^  ^  "^ 


nrir-^. 


^ 


i 


A 


-4     ^-_    .^- 


ii 


wr^t-t^y 


-V^*^    ^<  tt^   t  ^    V    "ST 


''  Home  After  Wandering  "  331 

hearts  seemed  to  spring  forward  with  delight  at  the 
chance  of  helping  those  in  real  need.  At  the  wharf 
in  Yokohama  we  bade  farewell  to  the  beloved,  heavy 
hearted  son,  who  was  remaining  behind  to  help  as  he 
could  in  attending  to  his  father's  more  intimate  affairs, 
and  a  few  weeks  found  Dr.  Underwood  at  his  sister's 
house  on  a  breezy  hill  top  among  the  Berkshire  hills. 

Here  at  first  he  seemed  to  gain  slightly,  but  with  the 
onset  of  the  severe  heat  of  July  and  August  he  failed 
very  rapidly,  but  never  did  he  lose  heart  or  courage. 
Within  less  than  a  month  of  the  end  he  wrote  to  his  son, 
"I  am  not  gaining  much,  but  at  least  I  am  holding  my 
own." 

The  doctor  declared  that  he  never  saw  an  invalid  so 
patient,  so  brave,  so  cheerful.  He  would  not  remain  in 
bed  to  which  he  was  carried  every  night,  but  lay  on  a 
lounge  on  the  porch  all  day.  Here  he  was  visited  by 
Secretaries  of  both  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Mission 
Boards,  and  by  friends  from  Korea  who  were  on  fur- 
lough, some  of  whom  came  long  distances  to  see  him. 
He  had  a  stenographer  nearly  every  day  during  the  sum- 
mer, and  wrote  dozens  of  letters  concerning  the  work  of 
Christ  in  Korea,  still  planning  to  make  addresses  through- 
out America  in  the  fall ! 

While  extremely  feeble,  and  failing  daily,  he  arranged 
for  a  fine  day's  outing  and  feast  for  the  little  day- 
nursery  children  living  in  Pittsfield. 

In  September,  by  the  doctor's  advice,  he  was  moved  to 
Atlantic  City,  but  here  he  grew  very  rapidly  weaker, 
though  not  one  complaint  was  heard,  and  he  reproved 
some  who  spoke  of  difficulties  and  troubles,  reminding 
them  how  many  blessings  he  had  had.     His  heart  con- 


332  Underwood  of  Korea 

stantly  turned  to  Korea,  he  called  for  pictures  of  his 
home  there  and  looked  at  them  long  and  lovingly,  giving 
the  last  of  his  vitality  to  an  earnest  conference  with  the 
agent  of  the  Korean  Tract  Society,  arranging  for  a  con- 
certed effort  to  raise  funds  for  its  work.  His  beloved 
brother  came  several  times  to  see  him,  his  oldest  sister, 
Mrs.  Stephens,  also  came  to  Atlantic  City  and  remained 
with  him  to  the  end.  On  the  night  before  he  was  called 
home,  when  very  weak  and  articulation  was  extremely  dif- 
ficult, he  was  heard  to  say,  *1  think,  I  think,  I  could  travel 
that  far."  Guessing  where  his  thoughts  were,  his  wife 
said,  ''Where,  dear,  Korea  ?"  His  face  brightened  and  he 
nodded  in  reply,  even  at  a  time  when  it  exhausted  him  to 
be  turned  in  his  bed! 

Next  day,  as  his  time  grew  shorter,  he  was  asked, 
"Do  you  feel  Jesus  near  you  ?"  A  lovely  smile  shone  on 
his  face  as  he  emphatically  nodded  "Yes,"  and  again 
when  we  asked,  "Do  you  feel  His  grace  sustaining  and 
supporting  you?"  came  the  same  smile  in  the  midst  of 
his  death  agonies,  the  same  absolute,  positive  assurance 
in  the  emphatic  motion  of  the  head.  At  half  past  three 
on  the  afternoon  of  October  12th,  1916,  this  lofty  soul 
passed  away,  to  join  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

His  son,  a  little  before  his  father's  death,  sent  Dr. 
Underwood's  last  report  of  work  to  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Mission  in  Korea,  from  which  the  following  is  a 
brief  extract: 

"During  the  past  year  Dr.  Underwood  has  been  Presi- 
dent of  the  Union  College,  where  he  taught  Psychology, 
Philosophy,  and  Ethics ;  President  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. ; 
Chairman  of  the   Executive   Committee  of  the   Korea 


''  Home  After  Wandering  "  333 

Religious  Tract  Society;  President  of  the  Pierson  Me- 
morial Bible  School;  Chairman  of  the  Committee  in 
charge  of  the  Evangelistic  campaign  in  Seoul ;  Chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Bible  Revision;  a  member  of  the  Mission 
Executive,  Educational,  and  Finance  Committees  and  of 
the  Severance  Board  of  Managers;  also  of  the  Seoul 
Union  Primary  Schools  Committee,  the  Legal  Committee 
of  the  Federal  Council.  He  served  also  on  several  Com- 
mittees of  the  General  Assembly,  and  on  other  native 
church  committees.  He  is  pastor  of  the  Sai  Mun  An 
church,  has  charge  of  the  west  district  with  thirty-six 
Christian  groups,  and  is  superintendent  of  the  primary 
educational  work  of  the  station.  He  has  continued  work 
on  the  Scofield  Bible,  and  has  given  some  supervision  to 
the  translation  of  a  number  of  books ;  during  the  summer, 
working  with  Dr.  Reynolds  on  Bible  revision.  Besides 
this  he  spent  a  certain  amount  of  time  each  day  in  the 
study  of  both  Chinese  characters  and  of  Japanese.  All 
these  lines  of  work  required  a  voluminous  amount  of 
correspondence.  Between  April  ist,  191 5,  and  his  de- 
parture in  April,  1916,  there  are  recorded  in  the  mailing 
book  over  twenty-three  hundred  pieces  of  mail  sent  out 
over  and  above  circulars." 

Dr.  Underwood's  remains  were  carried  to  Brooklyn 
to  the  house  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Conard,  and  after  a  brief 
private  service  there,  the  funeral  services  were  held  in 
the  Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  on  October 
fifteenth,  and  thence  he  was  carried  to  the  little  cemetery 
of  Grove  Church,  the  church  which  he  had  joined  on 
coming  to  America,  and  the  cemetery  where  his  father 
and  brother  were  laid. 

Letters  and  telegrams  expressing  sympathy  from  all 


334  Underwood  of  Korea 

over  America,  from  France  and  England,  but  most 
especially  from  Koreans  and  his  co-workers  in  Korea 
were  coming  for  months.  Twelve  young  Koreans  at  a 
memorial  service  in  California,  inspired  by  his  memory, 
consecrated  themselves  to  become  preachers  of  the  Gospel. 
From  far  in  the  interior  of  Korea,  north,  south,  east  and 
west,  itinerating  missionaries  wrote  us  that  in  the  distant 
mountains  and  remote  valleys  Koreans,  even  many  who 
were  not  Christians,  were  mourning  for  Dr.  Underwood. 
"All  Korea  is  draped  in  mourning  for  him"  wrote  one. 
Rev.  W.  N.  Blair  wrote  from  the  Jouk  Chan  mountains 
in  the  northeast  of  Korea,  "I  find  the  people  everywhere 
mourning  for  Dr.  Underwood.  It  is  wonderful  what 
a  place  he  has  in  Korean  hearts.  Even  the  non-Christians 
seem  to  know  about  him  and  his  love  for  their  land.*' 
In  the  letters  which  came  from  Korea  the  most  common 
plaints  were,  "What  shall  I  do,  how  shall  I  carry  on  my 
work  without  him?  I  have  lost  a  personal  friend."  "We 
hoped  in  him,  now  our  hope  is  gone."  Another  expres- 
sion common  to  many  of  them  told  of  the  inspiration  he 
had  been  to  new  missionaries  in  their  first  hard  days  on 
the  field,  and  there  were  repeated  assertions  that  the 
writers  had  never  heard  him  criticize  or  speak  harshly 
of  any  one,  or  show  jealousy  or  resentment. 

Much  of  his  income  was  spent  in  furthering  Christ's 
cause,  in  the  Bible  and  Tract  work,  translating  work, 
and  Y.  M.  C.  A.;  in  assisting  schools  and  Bible  Insti- 
tutes; and,  within  the  mission  rules,  lending  small  sums 
to  poor  churches,  and  in  times  of  famine  feeding  the 
hungry.  Although  money  was  placed  in  his  hands  by  his 
brother  for  some  of  these  purposes,  he  also  spent  a  large 
part  of  his  own  moderate  means  in  the  same  way.    He 


"  Home  After  Wandering  "  335 

kept  three  or  four  native  translators  and  copyists  con- 
stantly working  besides  twoor  three  Korean  English- 
speaking  secretaries  and  typists,  to  assist  in  his  great 
mission  business  and  correspondence,  not  to  mention  his 
American  missionary  assistant. 

He  left  behind  him  a  record  of  entire  consecration  to 
his  Master's  cause.  He  left  two  or  three  missions,  many 
of  whose  men  and  women  workers  were  won  to  give  their 
service  to  Korea  by  his  written  or  spoken  appeals,  many 
of  whose  best  institutions  were  founded  altogether  or  in 
part  by  his  energy,  wisdom  and  devotion,  and  whose 
necessary  funds  were  raised  largely  by  his  efforts. 

He  left  books  on  the  language  which  are  still  among  the 
best  and  most  practical  that  have  been  prepared,  a  mission 
study  book  in  English,  and  the  lectures  on  the  religions 
of  Eastern  Asia,  which  ought  to  inspire  all  their  readers 
to  missionary  service.  He  left  a  translated  Bible  on 
which  he  did  his  share  of  work  during  the  whole  of  his 
life  in  Korea,  as  well  as  many  tracts  and  Bible  helps, 
published  lectures,  and  a  translation  of  the  Scofield  Bible 
almost  completed.  He  left  the  division  of  territory 
accomplished,  although  it  had  seemed  an  impossibiHty, 
and  with  all  the  missions  working  well  on  toward  com- 
plete union,  having  already  a  Union  Medical  College  and 
Hospital,  a  Union  College  of  six  departments,  a  Union 
Church  paper  and  Hymn-book,  Union  Primary  Schools 
in  Seoul,  and  a  Union  Bible  Institute  in  Seoul,  most 
of  which  institutions  at  least  he  had  been  largely  instru- 
mental in  establishing.  He  left  in  good  running  order 
a  Summer  Sanatarium  bought,  at  first,  by  his  own  private 
funds,  and  he  left  many  little  churches  Vv^here  his  spirit 
and  example  remain  to  encourage  the  people.     He  left 


336  Underwood  of  Korea 

a  memory  that  will  long  be  an  inspiration  to  consecration, 
faith  and  devotion  in  the  churches  of  America. 

There  is  space  but  for  two  of  many  letters  received, 
although  the  tributes  paid  him  at  the  memorial  exercises 
in  Seoul  by  Drs.  Avison,  Gale  and  Hardie,  and  Judge 
Watanabe,  and  those  in  Brooklyn  by  Dr.  Brown,  Dr. 
Alexander,  Mr.  McWilliams  and  others  were  most  beau- 
tiful. Every  society,  almost  every  institution  in  Korea 
held  its  memorial  services  for  him,  and  the  General 
Assembly  of  Japan  sent  resolutions  of  respect,  admiration 
and  sorrow.  The  Foreign  Missions  Board  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  the  Lafayette  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn,  his  Presbytery  in  New 
Jersey,  his  college  fraternity,  all  held  memorial  services, 
giving  their  tribute  to  his  memory,  but  the  sweetest  tes- 
timonials will  be  those  of  saved  souls  from  Korea  in 
Heaven,  through  aeons  of  glory,  and  best  of  all,  that  of 
his  beloved  Master,  *'Well  done  good  and  faithful  servant, 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

A  letter  from  Dr.  John  R.  Mott,  who  had  often  been  in 
close  touch  with  Dr.  Underwood,  written  for  the  me- 
morial service  in  Brooklyn,  reads  as  follows: 

Dear  Dr.  Alhertson: 

I  was  glad  indeed  to  learn  that  you  are  to  have  next  Sun- 
day, in  your  Church,  a  service  in  appreciation  of  the  life  and 
work  of  Dr.  Underwood.  To  my  mind  this  is  a  most  fitting 
and  worthy  recognition  of  a  truly  remarkable  life.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  the  spread  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  there 
have  been  few  men  in  our  day  who  have,  in  so  few  years, 
accomplished  such  notable  results.  One  of  the  great  con- 
tinental nations  has  a  title  which  means  "Enlarger  of  the 
Kingdom,"  and  this  is  conferred  only  on  the  limited  number 
of  men  who  have  helped  in  a  marked  way  to  widen  the 


"  Home  After  Wandering  "  337' 

bounds  of  the  nation.  Such  a  title  might  well  be  associated 
with  the  name  of  our  friend,  who  has  gone  on  to  his  great 
reward. 

Dr.  Underwood  was  the  outstanding  advocate  of  the 
Korean  people.  No  other  man  in  our  day  or  in  the  preceding 
generation  has,  by  public  address,  by  printed  page,  by  per- 
sonal letter,  and  by  conversation  with  people  who  were  in 
a  position  to  render  real  help,  done  so  much  to  meet  the 
needs  and  to  realize  the  possibilities  of  the  millions  of  in- 
habitants of  Korea.  His  advocacy  of  its  claims  was  char- 
acterized by  such  earnestness  and  conviction  that  his  spirit 
of  enthusiasm  for  that  fascinating  land  had  genuine  commu- 
nicative power. 

In  the  different  conversations  which  I  have  had  with  Dr. 
Underwood  from  time  to  time,  as  I  have  met  him  in  the 
Far  East  or  in  this  country,  I  ever  found  him  responsive 
to  larger  plans  and  more  statesmanlike  measures,  in  all  that 
pertained  to  the  world-wide  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  On  more  than  one  occasion  his  optimism  and  vision 
put  to  shame  the  spirit  of  men  much  younger  than  himself. 
Even  in  the  midst  of  difficulty  and  discouraging  conditions, 
he  never  gave  one  the  impression  of  being  depressed,  and 
he  ever  sounded  out,  by  life  and  word,  the  contagious  note 
of  hope. 

This  Christian  leader,  whom  we  loved  and  sincerely  honor, 
was  a  power  for  Christian  unity.  I  always  associate  him 
with  efforts  to  bring  into  true  understanding  and  common 
action  the  different  bodies  of  Christians.  The  last  time  I 
visited  Korea  I  went  under  the  auspices  of  the  Continuation 
Committee  of  the  Edinburgh  Missionary  Conference,  and 
conducted  a  conference  of  representatives  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian missions  at  work  in  Korea.  Dr.  Underwood  was  one 
of  the  moving  spirits  in  working  up  this  significant  gather- 
ing, and  threw  his  whole  soul  into  the  working  out  of  the 
policy  to  promote  unity  and  practical  co-operation  among  the 
forces.  In  recent  years  he  was  the  distinguished  President 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Seoul.  Under 
his  wise  guidance,  it  came   into   a  position  where  it  was 


338  Underwood  of  Korea 

regarded  as  one  of  the  two  or  three  strongest  and  most 
influential  Associations  in  the  entire  foreign  field. 

Dr.  Underwood  was  not  only  a  factor  in  promoting  unity 
among  Churches,  but  also  in  furthering  that  more  difficult 
and  baffling  work  of  unification,  the  drawing  together  of  the 
Korean  and  Japanese  peoples.  To  my  knowledge  this  was 
one  of  the  most  taxing  pieces  of  work  to  which  he,  or  any 
other  man,  ever  addressed  himself.  At  times  it  seemed  like 
a  hopeless,  as  well  as  thankless,  task.  It  inevitably  led 
to  his  being  misunderstood  at  times,  even  by  some  of  the 
best  of  both  races.  Time,  however,  has  revealed  the  fact 
that  his  view,  in  this  delicate  situation,  was,  indeed,  pro- 
phetic, and  that  the  position  which  he  took,  in  days  when 
it  required  high  courage  to  do  so,  was  the  wise  position. 

One  of  the  most  statesmanlike  achievements  of  his  life, 
which  was  so  crowded  with  constructive  work,  was  that  of 
helping  to  establish  the  Union  Christian  College.  If  he  had 
never  accomplished  anything  besides  this,  it  would,  in  itself, 
constitute  a  rare  achievement.  His  friends  and  all  who 
wish  to  perpetuate  his  memory  can  do  so  in  no  better  way 
than  to  insure  the  carrying  forward  to  success  of  this  in- 
stitution which,  with  God's  assured  blessing,  will  have  more 
to  do  with  giving  Christ  the  central  place  in  the  life  of 
Korea  than  will  any  other  one  enterprise  or  movement. 
This  reminds  m,e  of  another  object  which  was  much  on  his 
heart  and  concerning  which  he  spoke  to  me  and  wrote  to 
me  repeatedly,  and  that  was  the  securing  of  a  modern  build- 
ing for  the  Japanese  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
in  Seoul,  the  capital  city  of  the  country.  What  a  splendid 
thing  it  would  be  if  the  necessary  money  were  soon  set  apart 
to  make  possible  the  realization  of  these  two  great  hopes, 
which  so  commanded  him  in  his  closing  years ! 

Dr.  Underwood  was,  first,  last,  and  always,  a  missionary, 
He  possessed  burning,  evangelistic  zeal.  I  can  remember 
as  though  it  were  yesterday,  the  great  evangelistic  meeting 
in  w^hich  he  and  I  worked  together,  when  I  last  visited  Seoul. 
In  the  midst  of  very  difficult  conditions,  he  had  pitched  a 
large  tent  and  assembled  a  vast  crowd  of  three  thousand  of 
the  most  influential  Korean  young  men.     He  served  as  my 


"  Home  After  Wandering  "  339 

interpreter  during  the  long  meeting,  lasting  fully  three  hours, 
when  I  gave  three  addresses  in  succession.  The  Spirit  of 
God  honored  our  united  efforts  by  leading  nearly  three  hun- 
dred of  these  young  men  to  declare  themselves  that  night, 
for  the  first  time,  disciples  or  followers  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  picture  of  our  friend,  in  the  midst  of  this  life-giving 
activity,  will  ever  linger  in  my  memory  as  a  source  of  inspi- 
ration. How  we  shall  miss  him !  May  God  help  us  to  take 
up  his  torch  and  bear  it  forward  with  something  of  his  own 
consuming  zeal  and  undying  devotion  to  our  Lord. 

Another,  a  letter  from  the  Native  Presbytery  in 
Seoul  to  our  son,  has  been  literally  translated  and  is  as 
follows : 

Omitting  all  the  usual  forms  of  salutation  we  write  to 
you: 

When  we  heard  that  your  honored  father,  our  pastor,  had 
left  this  earth  we  were  dismayed  and  could  not  conquer 
our  sorrow. 

Reverently  bowing  we  say : 

"An  obedient  and  loving  son,  How  can  you  endure  this 
never  to  be  ended  sorrow?" 

The  grief  of  your  honored  mother  how  can  you  assuage  it? 

Your  exalted  uncle,  with  his  brotherly  affection,  How 
great  is  his  sorrow ! 

The  departed  pastor,  having  received  the  grace  of  Our 
Lord,  consecrated  himself  to  the  extension  of  His  Kingdom. 
He  crossed  the  ocean  of  many  tens  of  thousands  of  li  (one- 
third  of  a  mile)  and  in  this  dark  and  distressed  country  he 
preached  the  true  doctrine,  enduring  for  more  than  thirty 
years  all  discomforts  of  wind,  frost  and  heat. 

Tens  of  thousands  who  were  in  the  place  of  death,  did  he 
cause  to  attain  to  life.  We  witness  to  all  these  virtues, 
every  lip  praises  his  works  and  achievements,  they  are  en- 
graved upon  every  heart  and  in  the  world  to  come  they 
will  shine  everlasting. 

As  for  lis,  the  members  of  this  Presbytery,  is  it  in  this 
world  alone  that  we  will  remember  his  virtues  and  deeds? 


340  Underwood  of  Korea 

Nevertheless  the  departed  pastor  has  not  himself  received 
this  honor,  he  gave  all  the  glory  to  God  and  is  now  resting 
from  his  labors  in  Paradise,  where  he  entered  by  what  we 
know  was  the  loving  command  of  God.  Your  humble 
servants  having  now  no  one  on  whom  to  rely,  what  is  there 
for  us  to  say? 

Farewells  of  this  world  in  after  years  become  glad  salu- 
tations in  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  With  these  thoughts 
we  bid  you  comfort  your  mother  and  uncle.  As  for  yourself 
we  urge  you  to  maintain  sedulously  your  usual  health  and 
strength,  and  inheriting  the  purposes  of  the  departed  pastor 
make  known  to  the  world  the  true  doctrine.  This  is  our 
earnest  prayer. 

The  distance  separating  us  is  too  great,  we  cannot  go  to 
your  house  and  there  offer  you  comfort.  For  this  reason 
we  set  forth  our  sorrow  in  written  words  and  implore  you 
to  receive  them  graciously. 

We  have  been  unable  to  write  all  that  is  in  our  hearts. 

The  Year  of  Our  Lord  1916,  12th  Month,  and  the  i6th  Day. 

Kyeung  Kui — Chung-Chong  Presbytery  of  the  Korean 
Presbytery  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Moderator  Cha  Sang  Jin, 
Clerk  Ham  Yul. 
Condolences  to  Teacher  Won  Han  Kyung   (H.  H.   Under- 
wood). 

The  following  resolutions  w^ere  passed  by  the  members 
of  his  mission  at  the  Annual  meeting,  1917: 

RESOLUTIONS   ON   THE   DEATH    OF  DR.   UNDERWOOD. 

With  gratitude  to  God  who  doeth  all  things  well,  we  record 
our  appreciation  of  the  leader  and  founder  of  the  Mission 
who  has  been  called  home  to  his  reward. 

H.  G.  Underwood  arrived  in  Korea  April  5th,  1885.  Born 
in  London,  England,  and  brought  up  in  America,  he  com- 
bined in  a  peculiar  way  the  gifts  and  graces  of  these  two 
great  nations  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  stock. 


"Home  After  Wandering"  341 

Educated  in  New  Yoi-k,  he  took  his  theological  course 
under  the  conservative  influence  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Seminary,  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  whose  interpretation 
and  views  he  faithfully  held  to  the  last. 

Gifted  with  an  unquenchable  zeal,  from  the  day  of  his 
landing  to  the  day  of  his  final  departure  thirty-one  years 
later,  he  never  ceased  effort  to  bring  about  a  broad  Christian 
era  for  the  people  of  Korea.  He  was  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  to  preach  to  them  those  tenets  that  have  changed 
the  course  of  the  ages,  and  he  always  preached  them  with 
a  fire  and  earnestness  befitting  the  great  mission  on  which 
he  had  come. 

He  took  the  name  Wun-Too-oo  as  a  readable  name  for 
a  substitute  for  his  own  English  name  Underwood.  Trans- 
lated literally  it  might  easily  read  Wun,  Chief;  Too,  stop 
or  bar  the  way ;  oo,  a  fault  or  what  is  wrong.  By  this  name 
he  became  known  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land.  From  King  to  the  humblest  cottager  they  all  knew 
Wun  Too-oo  as  the  champion  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  dominant  spirit  that  carried  him  over  hills  and  val- 
leys through  a  third  of  a  century  of  time,  never  waned 
in  the  slightest,  but  burned  as  brightly  the  day  he  left  as 
when  he  came.  Though  fifty-seven  years  of  age,  he  really 
died  a  young  man  who  had  scarcely  touched  the  zenith  of 
his  prime. 

He  had,  with  his  zeal  for  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel, 
a  strong  bent  towards  literary  work.  The  first  dictionary 
and  grammar  of  the  language,  if  we  except  the  primitive 
efforts  of  Dr.  Ross  of  Mukden,  were  prepared  by  Dr.  Under- 
wood. 

He  did  a  vast  amount  of  literary  work  in  the  way  of  books 
and  tracts,  Bible  helps  and  ^^early  calls  to  prayer.  It  would 
be  quite  impossible  to  give  a  list  of  all  the  publications  that 
came  from  his  office. 

He  was  the  one  and  only  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Bible 
Translators  through  all  its  history.  He  saw  the  completion 
of  the  whole  Bible  and  was  beginning  special  work  in  the 
way  of  commentaries  and  helps  when  he  was  called  Home. 
Those  who  were  associated  with  him  on  the  Board  remember 


342  Underwood  of  Korea 

gratefully  his  work  as  chairman,  always  gentle,  always  kind, 
always  hopeful. 

He  spent  much  of  his  time  and  influence  in  pushing  for- 
ward work  not  directly  his  own.  He  was  a  supporter  of 
medical  missionary  work  in  all  its  departments  and  the  good 
service  and  equipment  that  we  have  to-day  are  in  no  small 
measure  due  to  him. 

To  the  last  he  labored  for  the  educational  advance  of 
this  people  in  Pyeng  Yang,  Seoul  and  elsewhere. 

He  was  a  champion  in  the  way  of  raising  large  funds 
for  all  purposes.  He  could  move  men  of  influence'  at  home 
as  could  no  other  member  of  the  Mission,  and  we  all  profited 
by  the  abundant  supply  that  came  through  his  call. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Tract  Society  found  in  him  a  con- 
stant and  powerful  friend.  He  was  president  of  both  these 
institutions  till  his  final  departure. 

His  voice  was  especially  heard  at  home,  and  he  became 
in  a  large  sense  the  spokesman  of  all  the  Missions.  On  his 
first  visit  he  was  influential  in  securing  the  attention,  and 
finally  the  enlistment  of  Dr.  Avison  on  the  roll  of  our  Mis- 
sion forces.  He  added  to  this  the  awakening  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  South,  so  that  it  sent  representatives  who 
came  in  1892  and  occupied  Chulla  Province. 

On  a  later  visit  he  aroused  interest  in  Canada,  so  that  the 
Canadian  Church  definitely  took  up  work  in  1898  in  Ham 
Kyung  Province. 

His  addresses  that  awoke  interest  and  enthusiasm  both 
"down  South"  and  across  the  border  in  Canada  have  had  an 
incalculable  influence  for  good  on  the  question  of  Christian 
propaganda  in  Korea. 

He  was  invited  by  the  leading  Universities  at  home  to 
lecture  on  Oriental  themes,  and  as  a  mark  of  their  respect 
they  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degrees  of  D.D. 
and  LL.D. 

All  shades  of  life  and  opinion  honor  his  memory  and  his 
name.  As  long  as  time  lasts  he  will  be  acknowledged  a 
great  pioneer  chief  in  missionary  annals. 


Home  After  Wandering"  343 


TRIBUTE  OF  THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF  PROTESTANT  EVANGELICAL 
MISSIONS   OF    KOREA. 

It  is  very  fitting  that  this  Federal  Council  of  Protestant 
Evangelical  Missions  should  pay  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
Dr.  Horace  Grant  Underwood,  who  was  at  once  the  fore- 
most leader  in  its  organization  and  the  prime  mover  in  the 
creation  of  this  splendid  Memorial  building*  in  which  we 
are  now  meeting  for  the  first  time. 

Horace  G.  Underwood  was  born  in  London,  England, 
on  July  19th,  1859,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  moved  with 
his  parents  to  the  U.  S.  A.  The  family  settled  in  New 
Durham,  N.  J.,  where  they  joined  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  in  1874.  Horace  had  already  given  his  heart  to 
God,  and  from  early  boyhood  looked  forward  to  being  a 
foreign  missionary.  During  his  student  days  he  was  always 
active  in  Christian  service.  He  was  graduated  from  New 
York  University  in  1881  and  at  once  entered  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Theological  Seminary  in  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
On  completion  of  his  Seminary  Course  in  1884  he  was  or- 
dained to  the  ministry,  and  in  July  of  that  year  was  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.  as  its  first  ordained  missionary  to 
Korea,  where  he  arrived  April  5th,  1885. 

Dr.  Underwood  entered  at  once  upon  the  work  with  char- 
acteristic energy,  establishing  an  orphanage  for  boys  (the 
beginning  of  the  John  D.  Wells  School  for  Christian  Work- 
ers), and  baptizing  his  first  convert  in  1886.  He  organized 
his  first  church  in  September,  1887,  and  during  this  year  made 
the  first  of  his  many  long  itinerating  trips  into  the  interior. 
He  made  rapid  progress  in  the  acquirement  of  the  Korean 
language.  While  prosecuting  his  studies  and  his  work  for  the 
Koreans,  he  did  not  forget  the  need  of  the  rapidly  increasing 
band  of  missionaries,  for  whom  he  prepared  and  published,  in 
1889,  his  Korean  Gramm?r  and  Dictionary.  From  this  time 
on  he  was  always  actively  engaged  in  literary  work,  publish- 
ing a  Korean  hymnal  containing  150  hymns  in  1893,  editing 

*The  Pierson  Memorial  Bible  Institute. 


344  Underwood  of  Korea 

and  publishing  the  first  Christian  newspaper  in  Korea  in  1897, 
working  constantly  on  the  translation  and  revision  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  preparing  during  his  otherwise  busy 
life  a  far  larger  number  of  publications  for  the  Korean 
Religious  Tract  Society  than  any  other  contributor. 

For  thirty-one  years  he  was  the  leading  and  the  master 
spirit  in  all  our  union  organizations  and  institutions.  Almost 
every  phase  of  work  which  concerns  this  mission  field  as  a 
whole,  owes  its  origin  and  success  to  his  resourcefulness  and 
untiring  energy.  The  large  and  rapid  ingathering  which  has 
characterized  the  work  of  evangelization  in  Korea  must  be 
traced  back  to  the  spirit  of  fellowship  and  prayer  which 
found  marked  expression  in  those  Watch-night  services  of 
1885,  '86  and  '87,  when  he  and  the  sainted  Appenzeller  led 
the  little  band  of  pioneers  in  earnest  supplication  for  souls. 
In  the  field  of  education  he  was  as  enthusiastic  and  active 
as  in  evangelism.  The  history  of  missions  in  Korea  will 
record  his  name  as  leader  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
Bible  Translation,  with  that  of  the  Korean  Religious  Tract 
Society,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Federal 
Council  of  Protestant  Evangelical  Missions,  Severance  Med- 
ical College,  The  Pierson  Memorial  Bible  School  and  the 
Chosen  Christian  College.  His  sole  aim  in  all  these  enter- 
prises was  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ.  All  that  his 
life  of  consecrated,  vigorous  service  has  meant  to  this  city 
and  mission  field  will  only  be  fully  realized  by  future  genera- 
tions as  they  benefit  by  those  organizations  and  institutions 
which  he  was  so  largely  instrumental  in  inaugurating. 

His  influence  and  labors  for  the  cause  of  Christ  in  Korea 
were  not  confined  to  the  field  itself.  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown 
says:  "In  America,  Dr.  Underwood  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  influential  missionaries.  Whenever  he  was 
known  to  be  on  furlough,  he  was  always  overwhelmed  by 
invitations  to  speak.  He  was  the  chairman  of  the  deputa- 
tion of  missionaries  appointed  by  the  Board  to  conduct  the 
Korea  Propaganda  of  1907.  He  labored  with  splendid  zeal 
and  success  in  awakening  the  Church  to  a  realization  of  the 
urgent  needs  of  Korea  and  in  providing  additional  reinforce- 
ments and  appropriations,  and  to  him  is  due  no  small  part  of 


"Home  After  Wandering"  345 

the  credit  for  the  splendid  success  of  that  campaign.  .  .  . 
He  was  a  lecturer  upon  the  Stone  Foundation  at  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary  in  1908,  and  on  the  Deems  Philo- 
sophical Foundation  at  New  York  University  in  1909.  He 
was  made  a  member  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  and  New 
York  University  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  1890  and  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in 
1912.  He  was  a  man  of  conspicuous  ability  and  force  of 
character.  His  convictions  were  intense  and  his  tempera- 
ment enthusiastic,  but  his  spirit  was  catholic  and  his  vision 
broad.  He  took  far-sighted  views  of  what  the  best  interests 
of  the  cause  of  Christ  required  and  he  labored  with  unflag- 
ging zeal  for  their  realization.  He  was  once  offered  the 
vice-presidency  of  a  great  corporation  in  America  with  a 
salary  princely  in  comparison  with  that  which  he  received 
as  a  foreign  missionary;  but  he  felt  that  his  life  was  con- 
secrated to  the  missionary  enterprise  in  Korea  and  he  un- 
hesitatingly declined  the  offer." 

Let  us  pray  that  a  double  portion  of  the  spirit  of  this 
great  missionary  may  rest  upon  his  beloved  wife  and  son, 
and  also  upon  every  missionary  who  bears  the  Cross  in  this 
land  for  which  he  gave  his  life. 

We  recommend  that  this  report  be  placed  upon  the  minutes 
and  copies  sent  to  his  family. 

R.  A.  Hardie, 
W.  A.  Noble, 

S.    A.    MOFFETT. 


Kipling  seems  to  have  had  a  poetic  vision  of  some 
such  character  when  he  wrote  the  lines,  which  were 
illustrated  in  Dr.  Underwood's  life  for  years,  especially 
in  those  last  days: 

"H  you  can  keep  your  head  when  all  about  you 
Are  losing  theirs  and  blaming  it  on  you, 
If  you  can  trust  yourself  when  all  men  doubt  you. 
But  make  allowance  for  their  doubting,  too. 


346  Underwood  of  Korea 

If  you  can  wait  and  not  be  tired  by  waiting, 

Or  being  lied  about,  don't  deal  in  lies, 
Or  being  hated,  don't  give  way  to  hating, 

And  yet  don't  look  too  good  or  talk  too  wise; 
If  you  can  dream  and  not  make  dreams  your  master, 

If  you  can  think  and  not  make  thoughts  your  aim, 
If  you  can  meet  with  triumph  and  disaster 

And  treat  these  two  imposters  just  the  same, 
//  you  can  force  your  heart  and  nerve  and  sinew 

To  serve  your  turn  long  after  they  are  gone, 
And  so  hold  on  when  there  is  nothing  in  you 

Except  the  will  that  says  to  them,  'hold  on;* 
If  you  can  talk  with  crowds  and  keep  your  virtue. 

Or  walk  with  kings  nor  lose  the  common  touch. 
If  neither  foes  nor  loving  friends  can  hurt  you. 

If  all  men  count  with  you,  but  none  too  much, 
If  you  can  fill  the  unforgiving  minute 

With  sixty  seconds'  worth  of  distance  run — 
Yours  is  the  earth  and  everything  that's  in  it. 

And  which  is  more,  you'll  be  a  man,  my  son  \" 


INDEX 


Academy,  The  John  D.  Wells, 
45,  279 

Alexander,  Dr.  George,  265, 
336 

Allen,  Dr.,  40,  56,  79,  281 

Altman,  Dr.,  34 

America,  Return  to,  105  et 
seq.,  212,  265,  et  seq.,  331 
et  seq. 

American  Sunday  School  Dele- 
gation, 299 

Ancestry,  15-19 

Anniversary    of     Dr.    Under- 
wood's arrival  in  Korea, 
310 
Silver  Wedding,  313 
of    Protestant    Missions    in 
Korea,  281 

Annual  Meeting  of  Mission, 
Resolutions  of,  340-344 

Appenzeller,  Mr.,  40,  47,  59,  61, 
69,  202,  206 

Avison,  Dr.,  113,  114,  123,  149, 
150,  156,  175,  179,  189, 
200,  205,  250,  281,  306, 
311,  316,  329 

"Baby  Riots,"  74,  76 

Baccalaureate  Sermon  at  Uni- 
versity, 213 

Baird,  Mr.,  104,  281 

Bible  Translation,  44,  48  et 
seq. 

Blair,  Mr.,  294,  334 

Bonwick,  Mr.,  299 

Bowles,  Mr.,  Letter  of,  327 

Brockman,  Mr.,  312 


Brown,  Dr.  A.  J.,  278,  336 
Bunker,  Mr.,  105,  120,  248 

Canada,  Addresses  in,  113 

Catechumens,  190 

Chaffin,  Mr.,  317 

Chair  Yung,  289 

Chan  Dari  Church,  220 

Chang,  Mr.,  227 

Chang  Yun  Church,  189 

Chapman-Alexander  party,  280 

Chee  Foo,  102,  178,  179 

Chemulpo,  121 

Chin  Nam  Po,  196 

Cholera,  The,  56,  142  et  seq. 

Chun,  Elder,  279 

College  in  Seoul,  274,  275,  296, 
309,  310,  320 
Permit  for,  329-330 

College,    Royal   Korean   Medi- 
cal, 44 

College,    Union    Medical,    212, 

335 
Conard,  Mrs.,  333 
Conspiracy  Trials,  295 
Cram,  Mr.,  311 
Cynn,  Mr.,  306,  311 

Davies,  Mr.,  96 

Deems     Foundation    Lectures, 

269-270 
Delta   Upsilon    Fraternity,    24, 

115,  336 
Devins,  Dr.,  223 
Dictionary,    Dr.    Underwood's 

Korean,  95 


347 


348 


Index 


Division  of  Territory,  276  et 
seq. 

Easton,  Dr.,  27,  106 
Eddy,  Mr.,  294 

Educational    Information    Bu- 
reau, 295 
Ellinwood,  Dr.,  35 
Emperor,  King  proclaimed,  183 

Kindness  of,  223 
Eul  Yul,  166,  196 
Europe,    Return    to    America 
via,  212 

111  in,  259  et  seq. 
Evangelistic  Work,  Beginnings 

r     ""^'^^    . 
Campaign  of  191 1,  293 

Campaign    in    1915,    321    et 

V  seq. 

Among  Nobility,  203 

In  Seoul,  250 

Federal  Council,  Korean,  Trib- 
ute of,  343 

"Fifteen  Years  among  the 
Top-knots,"  83  et  seq., 
124,  147 

Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church,  112 

Foote,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  130 

Fusan,  104 

Gale,   Dr.,  48,  80,  92,  94,  106, 

202,   207,   216,   217,   239, 

248,  279,  311,  336 
General  Assembly  at  Portland, 

Address  at,  108 
Korean,  314 
Gifford,  Mr.,  80 
Grammar,     Dr.     Underwood's 

Korean,  95 
Grierson,  Dr.,  130,  191 

Hai  Ju,  160,  199,  201 
Haing  Ju,  Church  in,  159 
Hall,  Dr.,  133,  137,  233 
Halsey,  Dr.,  271 


Han  Suk  Jin,  Mr.,  312 
Hardie,  Dr.,  224,  322,  336 
Harkness,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  80 
Heinz,  Mr.,  299 
Hepburn,  Dr.,  37,  47 
Heron,  Dr.,  79,  loi 
Hong  Chang  Suk,  Mr.,  311 
Hospital  in   Seoul,   Opposition 

to,  210 
Hulbert,  Mr.,  150,  220 
Hymnbook,  The,  prepared  and 

rejected,  122  et  seq. 

Ibuka,  Dr.,  311 

Independent  Movement  in 
Seoul  Church,  186 

Industrial  Exhibition,  Evangel- 
istic Work  during,  321 

Itinerating  in  the  country.  Dif- 
ficulties of,  162 

Ito,  Marquis,  234 

Japan,  Vacation  in,  67 
Visits  to,  97,  176,  319 
Mission  to,  172 
Studying  the  language  in,  326 
Jones,  Dr.  G.  H.,  121 
Junkin,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  137 

Kang  Kai,  83 
Kerr,  Mr.,  284 
Kil  Moksa,  171 
Kim  Kiu   Sik,  45 
Kimura,  Mr.,  "the  Billy  Sun- 
day of  Japan,"  323 
Kim  Yun  Sik,  Mr.,  144,  310 
King,  Friendship  of  the,  177 
Celebrating  birthday  of  the, 

163  et  seq. 
Proclaimed  Emperor,  183 
Dr.     Underwood     befriends 
the,  147  et  seq. 
Koons,  Mr.,  284,  324 
Korea,  Arrival  in,  40 
"Korea  Church  Recorder"  es- 
tablished, 279 


Index 


349 


"Korea,  The  Call  of,"  quoted, 
99,  269 

Korean  currency,  58-59. 

Korean  food,  67 

Korean  language.  The,  240 

"Korean  Missionary  Field, 
The,"  quoted  from,  49  et 
seq. 

Korean  New  Testament  pub- 
lished, 202 

Korean  Propaganda  in  Amer- 
ica, 265  et  seq. 

"Korean  Review,"  The,  234 

Lafayette      Avenue      Church, 

Brooklyn,  35,  333 
Lee,  Mr.  Graham,  278 

Mabon,  Dr.,  23,  26 

MacRae,  Mr.,  130 

McCune,  Mr.,  90 

McKenzie,  Mr.,  128 

McWilliams,  Mr.  D.  W.,  35 

Miller,  Rev.  F.  S.,  138 

Miller,  Mr.  Hugh,  191,  311 

Min,  Prince,  79,  236 

Mitchell,  Dr.,  94,  96 

Moffett,  Dr.,  133,  217,  281 

Moody,  Life  of,  quoted,  211 

Moore,  Mr.,  123 

Morris,  Mr.,  277 

Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  301,  302, 
303,  304 
Tribute  of,  to  Dr.  Under- 
wood, 336-338 
Murder  trial,  Dr.  Underwood 
appears  as  advocate  in, 
181 

Namkung  Ok,  306 

Nashville,  Student  Conference 

at,  109 
Nevius,  Dr.,  99 
New  Brunswick  Seminary,  26, 

27 
New  Durham,  N.  J.,  23 


"News,    The    Weekly    Chris- 
tian," 168,  176 
New  York  University 
Student  in,  24,  25 
Graduated  from,  26 
Degrees  from,  33,  114,  297 
Son  graduated  from,  297 
No,  Mr.,  the  first  convert.  ^^, 

55 
Nobihty  and  Gentry,  Eflfort  to 
reach,  203 

O  Kung,  San,  Dr.,  311 
O'Neill,  Mrs.  Hugh,  131 
O  Nei  Soon,  Mr.,  311 

Pak  Sung  Pong,  Mr.,  312 
Peddlers'  Guild,  186 
Pierson  Memorial,  308,  318 
Pocket  Testament  League   280 
Pompton,  N.  J.,  Pastorate  in. 

Preface,  7-9 

Premier,  Japanese,  Conference 

with,  327 
Presbytery,       Native,       Letter 

from,  339-340 
Prmce  and  Princess,  Japanese, 

Visit  of,  325 
Prisons,  Visiting,  248 
Protectorate,  Japanese,  329 
Pyeng  Yang,  Visit  to,  63,  70 
Annual  Meeting  at,  195,  273 
JJitticulties  m,  132 
College  at,  274 
Celebration  at,  281 

Queen,  a  friend  of  progress,  74 

Audience  with  the,  97 

Death  of  the,  75,  147 

Funeral  of  the,  183 
Quinine,  Sale  of,  140 

Revivals,  223,  225 
Reynolds,  Dr.,  48,  202,  318 
Richmond,  Va.,  Address  at,  112 
Rijuite,  Mr.,  38 


350 


Index 


Rivers,  Difficulties  in  crossing, 
246-247 

Sai  Mon  An  Church,  The,  141, 

145,  189,  219 
Scranton,  Dr.,  47,  61,  202 
Script,  Mixed,  239-241 
Seong  Dong  Church,  310 
Seoul,    Memorial    services    in, 
336 
Presbytery,  Letter  from,  339 
Severance,  Mr.,  210 
Shelter,  The  Frederick  Under- 
wood, 131,  142,  225 
Shin,  Mr.,  190 
Smallpox  epidemics,  55,  195 
Soh  Sang  Yune,  Mr.,  62 
So  Jay  Pil,  Mr.,  184 
Song  Do,  63,  82,  245 
Song  Un  Yong,  Mr.,  311 
Sorai,    161,    196,    198,   242,   250 

et  seq.,  318 
Speer,  Mr.,  108,  318,  320 

Taiton,  242 

Tai  Won  Kun,  The,  74 

"Term  question,"  The,   124  et 

seq. 
Theological  Seminary,  The.,  in 

Seoul,  217 
"Tong  Haks,"  The,  136 
Tung  Chow,  179 

Underwood,  Frederick,  Mr., 
19,  20,  23,  36,  115,  131 

Underwood,  Horace  H.,  Mr., 
102,  284,  297,  331,  340 


Underwood,  John,  Mr.,   17-18, 

22,  23,  25,  26 
Underwood,  John  T.,  Mr.,  22, 

23,  36,  37,  115,  117.  296 
Union  Bible  Institute,  335 
Union,  Foregleams  of,  237 
Union  Hospital,  212,  335 
Union  Medical  College,  335 
Union  Primary  Schools,  335 

Vinton,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  137 
Vladivostok,  Sea-trip  to,  205 

War,  The  Chino-Japanese,  136 
The  Russo-Japanese,  229 

Watanabe,  Judge,  304,  336 

Waugh,  Dr.  Alexander,  16 

We  Ju,  83,  89,  294 

Wells,  Dr.,  99,  142 

Wewha,  Prince,  151 

Whang  Hai,  Province  of,  193 
Trouble  in,  215 
Transfer  of  work  in,  221 

White,  Mr.  J.  Campbell,  294 

White,  Dr.  W.  W.,  294 

White  Wings,  Church  at,  197 

Whiting,  Dr.,  193,  291 

Won  San,  Revival  in,  224 

Ye  Seung  Man,  249 

Ye  Sung  Chai,   Mr.,  249,   306, 

311 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Korea,  206,  207, 

302  et  seq. 
Triennial  Convention  of,  311 
Yuan  Shi  Kai,  Mr.,  104 
Yun,  Che  Ho,  Mr.,  151,  185 
Yun,  Gen.,  151-152 


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